Good ol' School Days
by Carrie2sky
Summary: This is my take on what Naruto's first days at the academy may have been like if he was living with Minato. Overprotective Minato and chaos ensues. Read and Review!
1. Chapter 1

Good ol' School Days

**AN: AU where Yondaime is alive and Naruto lives with him. This is a story about what it might have been like when Naruto started at the academy. Naruto hasn't found out that he's the container for Kyuubi yet. I was influenced to write parts of this from Finding Nemo, so yeah, I borrowed some dialogue from it, don't sue me. I also borrowed some dialogue from other Naruto episodes. I thought it would be cute to have an overprotective Minato. Naruto may seem wimpy or a crybaby at times, but hey, he is only barely 7, so it's in the realm of possibly, plus his life is a bit different growing up with Minato. Now enjoy! I don't own Naruto, k? Read and Review!**

Namikaze Naruto was finally going to be seven years old next month. This was very significant for him because he would finally old enough to go the academy to learn to be a ninja, just like his father. His ultimate dream was to become Hokage. But for now, he was just content to start at the academy.

Minato, his father, had mixed feelings about his son being at the academy. On the one hand, he wanted Naruto to learn to be a ninja, and go to school, which would make life a little easier for Minato to attend to his duties as Hokage, but on the other hand, he was constantly worried about Naruto getting hurt, killed or kidnapped, and as a result, ended up being too overprotective. He still didn't know if he really wanted Naruto to become a fully-fledged ninja or not. And as for the dream of being Hokage…well…that's another story…

Now, Naruto's birthday was in October and the Academy started classes in September. But being the Hokage's son, they had made an exception to let Naruto start, even though he wouldn't be seven until the following month.

The day was vast approaching for Naruto to start the Academy and he was so excited. It was all he talked about, and it was starting to trouble Minato a bit. He needed to tell Naruto about the 'arrangements' he had made in order for Naruto to get to and from the academy, and Minato knew that Naruto wouldn't like it, so he kept putting it off until the day before he was to start.

"Naruto," Minato called his son. He was playing in his room. "Would you come here, please?"

"Coming, tousan," Naruto answered from within his room. He came into the living room, where he saw his father sitting on the couch. "You wanted me?" he asked him.

"Yes. Come here," Minato answered, patting the couch as an indicator for Naruto to sit down next to him, which he did.

"I can't wait until tomorrow," Naruto gushed at once. "I start my training to become a ninja!"

Minato coughed. "Yes, well about that. There's something I need to talk to you about."

"What is it? You haven't changed your mind, have you?" Naruto asked, accusingly.

"No!" Minato said quickly. "I just wanted to go over some 'arrangements' I've made and some rules that you need to follow while you're at the academy."

Naruto resisted the urge to roll his eyes. _Here's goes Tousan, being overprotective again,_ He thought.

Minato took a deep breath and continued. "On your first day, I will be taking you to the academy since they a special entrance ceremony for you, and as Hokage, I have to give the welcoming speech also." A relative had to attend, regardless, which was not a problem for Minato. However…

Naruto listened impatiently. He knew his father was going somewhere with this. He wished he'd hurry up and get to the point.

"My duties as Hokage keep me busy, as you know, and I may not always be able to take you to and from the academy," Minato continued again.

"I understand, tousan. I can just go by myself," Naruto answered, not seeing what the big deal was.

"Unfortunately, you cannot, Naruto," Minato said, seriously. "Being the son of a Hokage makes you vulnerable to attack, and I know there are people out there who could try to cause you harm, to get to me. Especially because you're my son, if they knew they could get away with it, they would."

Naruto wanted to protest, but Minato stopped him with his hand. "Let me continue. So as a result, I have asked Kakashi to fill in for me when I can't be there. He will take you to and from the academy." Minato finished. What he didn't tell Naruto was that Kakashi would be watching him at all times, even while he was at the academy.

Naruto was incredulous. "What?! I can't believe this! I thought the village was safe and that no one can come in here undetected."

"If you haven't noticed, you've always been with me, or someone else. You're right in that the village is usually safe from attack, but there's always the possibly no matter how remote, that enemies could make it in here. I'm not taking the risk to let you go alone. If you want to attend the academy, then that's the deal," Minato told Naruto with finality.

Naruto sighed, and then he nodded his head in agreement. It would be really embarrassing though, and he was sure to be teased about his 'bodyguard.'

"Good. Now, we need to go over a few rules," Minato said.

Naruto looked up at this. "What rules?" As if having a bodyguard wasn't bad enough.

"You already know the first one. You are to be with Kakashi, myself, or another jounin every time you leave the house or the academy. Never go anywhere alone. That's very important, Naruto," Minato stressed. "Secondly, never leave the safety of the academy while you're there. If something happens, I'll get word to you. You are to obey Kakashi like you would me, understand?"

"Hai, tousan, I understand," Naruto reluctantly agreed.

"Good, because there will be consequences, if these rules are ever broken," Minato warned him. "Now, it's time for bed. You have a big day ahead of you."

"Hai, tousan," Naruto answered, giving him a hug. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Naruto." Minato said, returning the hug and watching him leave.

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The next day, Naruto woke up early and very excited, in spite of last night's conversation with Minato; he couldn't wait to start at the academy. He quickly got dressed, and rushed into Minato's room.

Much to Naruto's displeasure, he found Minato still asleep. Naruto leapt onto his bed and shouted loudly, "First day of school! First day of school! Come on, tousan, get up, get up, get up!"

At first, Minato rolled over and mumbled, "Don't want to go to school. Five more minutes."

"Not you, tousan, me!" Naruto gushed excitedly. "Now get up!"

"Okay, I'm getting up, it's time for school," Minato grumbled, rolling back over to face his hyperactive son.

"Get up then, it's time for school, time for school, time for scho-woah!" He was cut off when after bouncing so much from excitement; he fell off the bed, landing on his head.

"Owww…."

This got Minato up so quickly, that if you had blinked, you would have missed it.

"NARUTO!" He exclaimed, as he quickly picked him up and sat him on his bed, checking for injuries.

"Where's the break? Do you feel a break?" Minato asked quickly.

"No," Naruto answered, used to this kind of treatment from his father, but greatly annoyed by it.

"Sometimes you can't tell because fluid is rushing to the area. Now any rushing fluid?" Minato asked again, checking his head for bumps.

"No," Naruto said again.

"Are you woozy?"

"No."

"How many fingers am I holding up?" Minato asked, holding up three.

"Tousan, I'm fine!" Naruto insisted.

"Just answer my question!" Minato said, emphatically.

"Three," Naruto answered.

"See? Something's wrong with you, I have…" Minato looked at his fingers, realizing he held up three said sheepishly, "You're okay then. Listen, Naruto. Are you _sure_ that you want to go to the academy this year? Because it's no problem if you don't. I mean you can wait five or six years…"

"Come on, tousan. It's time for school. I don't want to be late!" Naruto interrupted, getting down from the bed, and tugging on his father's sleeve. He was relieved that Minato stopped his fussing over him.

"Ah-ah," Minato said waving a finger at him. "Not without breakfast."

Naruto sighed, but followed his father out to the kitchen to eat. He gulped down his food quickly that Minato set out for him and said, "Okay, I'm done, let's go!"

"Naruto! You shouldn't eat so fast!" Minato admonished him. "We have plenty of time, you know."

"I'm just so excited," Naruto answered.

Minato smiled. His enthusiasm was contagious. After packing him a lunch, he said, "Very well. Let's go then."

As they walked towards the Academy, Minato reflected on how every year, he was always there as the village's Hokage, to welcome all new students. This year was different. Now, his own son was going to be attending. It just seemed too hard to believe. _He's growing up so fast_, Minato thought, as they walked together.

When they arrived at the academy, there was quite a crowd of people and children, gathered around the entrance to hear Minato's customary speech. Minato had Naruto be right by his side, since he wouldn't let Naruto out of his sight, while he gave his speech, much to Naruto's embarrassment.

"Everyone-congratulations on your entrance into the academy. From here on, please work hard as you pursue the shinobi way. My wish is for each of you to contribute greatly to Konoha." Everyone clapped and cheered for Minato.

When Minato was done, he greeted a few people, with Naruto trailing along slightly behind him. Presently, one of the jounin teachers came up to talk to Minato.

"Hokage-sama!" He greeted. Then he looked over at Naruto who was hanging back behind his father, feeling shy. "This must be your son."

Minato nodded, bringing Naruto in front of him. "Yes, this is Naruto. He's starting the academy this year."

"What an honor to have him. I'm sure he will do well here," the jounin answered.

Naruto blushed and looked down.

"Thank you for letting him start a little early, he really wanted to come," Minato said.

"Ah, not a problem at all, Hokage-sama," the jounin said waving it off.

"Please take good care of him," Minato whispered, leaning forward so only the jounin could hear him.

"Of course, Hokage-sama," the jounin answered back. Naruto just stared up in confusion. To Naruto he said, "We're expecting great things from you, Naruto-sama."

"Hai! I'll do my best!" Naruto answered.

Minato knelt down to Naruto's level, placing his hands on Naruto's shoulders. "Remember what I told you. Have a good day."

"I will. You can go now, tousan. I'll be fine," Naruto said. And with that, he followed everyone inside.

Minato sighed as he watched Naruto go. It was really hard for him to let go. But he did have tons of work to do back at the office…

Naruto found a place to sit at a desk, as he waited for class to begin. Behind him, he heard two students talking in hushed voices…

"That's the Yondaime's son, right?" asked one.

"Yeah, that's him alright," answered the other.

"I bet he'll be awesome!" said the first one.

"Hmm…maybe…" answered the second.

Naruto didn't want to hear anymore. Fortunately, the teacher came in. He didn't like the fact that they were comparing him to his father already…

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Minato was swamped with paperwork. _How does it pile up so fast?_ He wondered. His thoughts then turned to Naruto. _I hope he's doing all right…_

It was break time, and Naruto was outside the classroom practicing his shuriken throwing. He wasn't alone, however. Someone was watching him to make sure he was safe, but Naruto was unaware of his presence.

"Darn it!" Naruto yelled in frustration as he missed the target. "I'm going to have to practice this a lot more!"

Finally, the end of day came. Naruto walked out to the front of the academy and noticed a swing, hanging from a tree. He went over to it and began to swing, waiting for whoever was supposed to pick him up. He knew it wouldn't be his father. He would be too busy…

Suddenly, Naruto was pushed roughly from the swing. He fell down into the dirt.

"Hey!" Naruto protested loudly.

"Hey, yourself kid. What do you think you're doing on _my_ swing?"

Naruto looked up at the kid who had pushed him off. He was bigger than he was and he wasn't alone. There were two other boys with him.

Naruto stood up and brushed off his clothes. "Your swing? I don't see your name on it."

The boy came up to Naruto and grabbed him by the front of his shirt and lifted him off the ground. "If I say this is _my_ swing, then that means it's my swing." The other kids snickered. "From now on, you're not allowed to play here, unless I say so, got it?" he asked Naruto.

Naruto was a bit afraid, since this was a bigger boy, but still…he wasn't going to let this boy think he could bully him! After all, he was the son of the Hokage. But before Naruto could do anything else, a jounin ninja "poofed" out of smoke right next to them. Naruto recognized him as Kakashi.

"Is there a problem here?" Kakashi asked coolly to the boy, who still held Naruto.

"Not any more," the boy answered, letting Naruto down, a bit roughly. "I believe we've come to an understanding." With that, he turned and left.

Naruto glared at their retreating backs. Kakashi watched them also. "Are you alright, Naruto?" he asked him.

"I'm fine. I really didn't need your help. I could have handled him myself. You have the worst timing," Naruto complained as they started walking towards Hokage tower.

"Really? You could have fooled me," Kakashi replied.

Naruto choose to say nothing. He was fuming on the inside though. Next time, things will be different.

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When Kakashi and Naruto arrived outside Minato's office, he asked him, "Are you going to tell your father what happened?"

"No. I'm fine, and there's nothing to tell," Naruto answered him shortly.

Kakashi shrugged and knocked on the door. A 'come in' was heard from within.

Minato looked up from his work, as he saw Naruto and Kakashi come in. "Ah, Naruto! How was your first day at the academy?"

"Fine," Naruto answered vaguely, giving Kakashi a look that clearly said, 'don't say a word.'

"Just, 'fine'?" Minato questioned.

"Yes," Naruto answered shortly. "I'm tired and hungry. When can we go home?"

"Now. I'm finished," Minato told him.

"Good. Let's go then," Naruto said, really wanting to get back home.

Minato eyed Kakashi, knowing that something was going on that neither him nor Naruto was telling him. "Thank you for bringing Naruto here, Kakashi."

"Not a problem, sensei. Ja ne!" He said as he disappeared.

Naruto walked home with Minato in silence. Minato was worried. This wasn't like Naruto at all. He should be bubbling with joy about his first day. He had been looking forward to this forever. Something was wrong and Minato was going to find out what it was…

**TBC**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

**AN: Thanks to those of you who reviewed. Special thanks to MrsHellman who helped me out with some of this. Now, on with the story. As always, review! It helps us authors so much! Still don't own Naruto.**

Much to Minato's distress, he didn't find out yet what had happened to Naruto at the academy yesterday. Naruto wasn't talking and Minato didn't want to push him too much. He had tried to ask Naruto questions about it, but he only responded with vague answers. Minato was concerned. This wasn't like Naruto at all.

He resolved to have a 'talk' with Kakashi later on about it. He felt that the jounin knew something about it that he didn't. For now, though, he decided not to press the matter. Perhaps Naruto had just been tired from his first day.

Minato had taken him to school that morning, and was currently working in his office. It was hard to concentrate on his work though, knowing that something was going on with Naruto. He couldn't help but feel very concerned about his son. It was obvious that something bad must have happened to Naruto. Minato didn't understand why Naruto wouldn't talk about it.

He sighed as he looked out of the window at the village. He would try to give Naruto more time to tell him what was going on before talking to Kakashi about it. _I wonder how Naruto's doing, _Minato thought. He at least felt a little better knowing that Kakashi was watching Naruto, but still...Minato couldn't shake off that worried feeling he was having...

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Naruto, meanwhile, enjoyed learning at the academy, but he was starting to feel some pressure from the instructors and his classmates that he'd be as good as his father. He _wanted_ to be like him, but Naruto was afraid of letting everyone down, especially his father. And he really wanted to show Minato that he could be a good ninja. His father was so overprotective of him. That's why Naruto just couldn't tell him about what happened yesterday, because he knew Minato would totally freak out. He just hoped that Kakashi wouldn't say anything either, because Naruto was afraid that his father might pull him out of the academy altogether, and Naruto would hate that. He could just hear it now...

"_I was right, Naruto. You're too young to be at the academy. We'll try again in a year or so." _

"_But tousan..." Naruto protested._

"_No. I've made up my mind. It's clear that you're not ready for the vigors of academy life. Besides, I can't let my little Naru-chan get hurt, now can I?" Minato said pinching Naruto's check, much to his annoyance._

Naruto shivered at the thought. That was the last thing he wanted to happen. He couldn't control what Kakashi might say to Minato. He could only hope that Kakashi would respect his wishes.

At break time, Naruto went outside with the other kids. They were all free to do as they wished. He noticed that the other kids were giving him strange looks; whispering and pointing at him. Finally, Naruto got fed up and went up to them.

"What are you guys talking about?" Naruto asked.

"Well, we've heard that there's a bigger kid picking on you and that you have a 'bodyguard' who came to rescue you." They said, laughing at Naruto. This made him angry. Evidently, word had gotten around about what had happened yesterday and Naruto knew _who_ leaked the information: it was that stupid boy from yesterday.

Naruto chose not to respond to them. Instead, he went off to another area by himself. He was determined though to do something about that big bully, so the other kids would stop teasing him. He really just wanted everyone's respect. So all the rest of the day, Naruto worked extra hard in all of his lessons, particularly the one in self-defense. The next time that bully came around, Naruto was going to be ready for him.

Naruto was a little surprised that he hadn't seen the bully yet. Since he was older, no doubt he was in different classes...but still Naruto thought he would see him somewhere...

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When school was done for the day, Naruto found himself waiting outside the academy for Kakashi to show up; who was late as usual. Little did he know, however, that the jounin was actually quite close by, alternating between reading his book and watching Naruto. He was waiting a bit to show up to see if the kids from before would bother Naruto, and if he could find out more information about what was going on.

_Geez, Kakashi-san, where the heck are you?_ Naurto wondered as he looked around for the jounin. _I hope he hasn't said anything to tousan._

Naruto found himself wishing he could walk by himself to Hokage tower or his house, but he knew Minato would have a fit if he found out. No doubt that would end his career at the academy for sure.

"Tousan will always be tousan," Naruto said. "He'll never change." He sighed.

Naruto eyed the swing. He really wanted to go on it while he waited, and why shouldn't he? If that stupid boy showed up, Naruto was ready for him. There was also a part of him that wanted that bully to show up, just so Naurto could stand up to him to show him that he wasn't afraid of him. Minato had taught Naruto some basic ninja arts, and Naruto had seen enough of what his father did, to defend himself. If Kakashi hadn't shown up late yesterday and ruined everything, Naruto knew he could have handled the situation.

So Naruto decided to take a chance, seeing no one around and made his way over to the swing. But just as he was about to sit on it, he heard a familiar voice behind him that gave him goose bumps.

"Hey, kid! I thought I told you not to play here!"

Naruto turned around and saw that same boy with his peanut gallery with him. This was his chance to show him and everyone else at school that Naruto wasn't a pushover. _ I'll show him!_

"Excuse me, but no one _owns_ this swing, least of all you. It's belongs to the academy and it's for _all _students," Naruto said very bravely.

This made the boy furious. "You've got a smart mouth for someone younger than me. I hate short kids anyway. Guys, I think it's time to show this kid a lesson in how to respect his superiors," he said cracking his knuckles.

Naruto wouldn't back down. "I hope you don't mean yourself," he said cheekily, crossing his arms in clear defiance.

Kakashi was keenly aware of the situation. He was still waiting a bit longer before intervening to see where things would go. He also wanted to give Naruto a chance, since he had to somewhat get used to handling various situations. Kakashi also had a job to protect Naruto, and he knew he couldn't let things get too far, so he was ready to step in at any time.

"You think you're so clever, don't you? Well, you're really asking for it, kid. Don't think I'll go easy on you, just because you're younger than me," the boy said as he approached Naruto with an evil smirk plastered on his face.

"Bring it on, jerk!" Naruto said defiantly, as he took a fighting stance.

The boy tried to swing a punch at Naruto, who ducked down low and kicked him hard in the stomach. He doubled over in pain and fell to the ground. Naruto's triumph was short-lived however, when another boy in the group decided to step in, catching Naruto off guard and hitting him hard on the cheek near his eye. He cluched his eye with his hand, stumbled backwards and fell down also.

_I think things have gone far enough, _Kakashi thought, deciding to intervene.

Appearing suddenly out of a puff of smoke to step in _again, _Kakashi made his presence known. "Alright, break it up kids. Fighting each other is not allowed outside the academy. Get lost." Kakashi told the group.

The other two kids helped their leader get up. He glared daggers at Naruto and said, "Just be grateful your 'bodyguard' stepped in to save you kid, or you'd be history. I'm not done with you yet," he hissed and ran off with his lackeys.

Kakashi watched them leave, and then turned to Naruto to see if he was all right. "Are you hurt, Naruto?" he asked, holding out his hand to help him up.

Naruto angrily brushed away Kakashi's hand and got up by himself. "I'm fine," he said, clearly embarrassed by Kakashi's 'timely' arrival. _Why does he keep doing that?_ He thought, angrily. _I'm going to get teased about this more than ever now. I wonder if I can even show my face in school again._

"You certainly have a way with people," Kakashi observed. "Why are they picking on you, anyway?"

"No offense, Kakashi-san, but it's my fight and I'll win it. It's really not your concern," Naruto said, annoyed.

"Actually, it _is_ my concern, since your father has put me in _charge_ of you, when he's not here. And I believe he told you to mind me as you would him…" Kakashi reminded him.

Naruto looked annoyingly at him as Kakashi looked at his eye closely and said, "You're going to have to have that eye looked at. It looks like its swelling."

Naruto panicked. He couldn't let his father see it! If he did, then he'd ask him how it happened and Naruto couldn't tell him! Knowing his father, Minato would certainly over react. He may not even let Naruto come back to the academy again and then Naruto's worse nightmare would come true.

Oblivious to Naruto's inner turmoil, Kakashi continued, "Those kids don't seem to know who you are. Why haven't you told them?" Even under his mask, Kakashi looked concerned. He noticed that something flickered behind the boy's blue eyes, was it fear? Kakashi wasn't sure, but he had to find out. Something clearly was going on here, and Kakashi wanted to find out what it was. He knew that Minato would certainly want to know.

Naruto looked up at him. "I'm not a namedropper. I want to establish my own identity," he pouted and crossed his arms. Kakashi sighed at his childish way of acting.

"Well, you still need to tell your father about this," Kakashi told him firmly.

"I can't!" Naruto protested. "He may never let me come back! He'll go ballistic, I know it! You of all people know how he feels about me!"

Kakashi didn't miss the panic in Naruto's voice or his face. Naruto's eyes were wide with fear. _Is it really that hard for Naruto to tell Minato-sensei that something's going on at school? It has to be more than just sensei's reaction. _Kakashi thought, though he did understand what Naruto was saying about his father. Kakashi had observed Minato's possessiveness over his son.

"I do understand, Naruto, but I think he deserves the respect of knowing what's going on here. I'll give you a chance to tell him today, but if you don't, then _I _will," Kakashi said firmly, giving Naruto a hard look.

Naruto sighed and pouted again. Then suddenly, he had an idea. "Ne, Kakashi-san?" he asked a little too brightly considering his previous mood.

"Hmm?" Kakashi looked at Naruto with a curious eye.

"Ano-sa, could you take me back home, instead of tousan's office? I want to think over what you said, so I can be ready to tell tousan when he comes home. You can stay with me, if you have to, and just tell him I wanted to go straight home," Naruto said as Kakashi raised an eyebrow.

"Mah…I don't know, Naruto…I'm supposed to take you to his office right after school…" Kakashi started to say. He knew that Naruto was up to something…but what?

"Please, Kakashi-san?" Naruto pleaded, his blue eyes sparkling.

Kakashi sighed at the puppy-dog look Naruto gave him. Who in their right mind could resist that? "Very well. I'll take you home, and tell your father where you are. I can have some ANBU watch the house, but then I will come right back. You're not supposed to be alone."

"Arigatou, Kakashi-san," Naruto gushed and smiled his usual 'foxy' grin. Now he could think up a plan!

**TBC**

**AN: Sorry this was little short, but it was a good place to stop. I'll try to make the next one longer. To 'Ryan'-your flame will be used to warm my fireplace. I suggest you read the AN notes more carefully next time. Now review people! Hit that submit button now! It really helps me out, you know! I'm also signed up with FFN as a beta now if anyone is interested, check it out!**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

**AN: Thanks to all of you who have reviewed, and thanks to those who have added this story to their favorites. And a special thanks to MrsHellman who kindly helped me. Check out her story, it's fantastic! ****Please review and as always don't own Naruto. If I did, Minato would still be alive!**

After taking Naruto home, and making sure he was settled in, Kakashi had some ANBU watch over Naruto outside the house. Then he went to talk to Minato. He was sure that Naruto was up to something. Kakashi wasn't too sure he would tell Minato the truth.

As Kakashi jumped from roof to roof, he thought about how he should tell Minato what was going on with Naruto. He knew the little blonde was plotting something, or else why wouldn't he have wanted to go to his father's office? Kakashi very much doubted that it was because Naruto wanted to 'think' things over. More likely, it was because Naruto wanted to hide this latest incident.

Minato was busy with more paperwork, when he saw Kakashi come in through the open window. _I don't think he uses the door much, _Minato thought. He noticed immediately that Naruto wasn't with him. "Kakashi? Where's Naruto?" Minato asked the jounin, giving him a worried look.

"Don't worry, he's safe your house. I have ANBU watching him for now. There's something about Naruto that I want to talk to you about…" Kakashi began.

Minato began to feel worried. _Has something happened? Is Naruto all right? _He wondered. On the outside, though, he remained calm.

"I've been meaning to talk to you about him also. His recent behavior has been strange. Is it related to him being at the academy?" Minato asked him. _Maybe it was too soon to send Naruto to the academy, maybe he isn't ready yet. _

Kakashi looked away for a brief moment. "Yes," he said. Naruto was going to kill him when he found out, but that didn't matter. "You see there are some bigger kids that are picking fights with Naruto-" Kakashi started to explain.

"Fights!?" Minato interrupted, very concerned for Naruto. "Why? Don't these kids know who he is? Oh gosh, I should go see him right away!" He said very quickly.

Kakashi laughed a nervous laugh at the Hokage's behavior. "Woah, calm down sensei, well… the thing of it is… it's like this. He hasn't told them of his parentage. Said he wants to establish his own identity." Kakashi answered. Minato looked confused. Kakashi continued. "I haven't yet figured out why they are picking on him. He won't tell me. Wants to solve it himself. I have stepped in twice, once before things got bad, but this last time, Naruto got hurt," Kakashi finished nervously, waiting for his sensei's reaction.

"WHAT!? Hurt?" Minato repeated frantically. "Why didn't you say so in the first place? How bad is it? Is he all right?

"He has a black eye, sensei, nothing more, but he also hurt one of the other kids in the fight, though not very significantly," Kakashi added and braced himself for Minato's response.

Minato frowned. _Why hasn't Naruto told me any of this?_ "Why did you wait until he got hurt before you stepped in?"

"Well, this last time, I was waiting to see if I could learn more about what was going on before intervening. I also wanted to give Naruto a chance to deal with it to be fair to him. Then when I told Naruto that he needed to have his eye looked at, he panicked. He seemed like he didn't want you to know. He fears you won't let him go back to academy. Something about being too overprotective?" Kakashi finished carefully, so as not to upset his sensei too much.

Minato blushed and smiled sheepishly, putting his hand behind his head. "Well, it's true that I may be a little overprotective of him," he said with a nervous laugh. "But it's for a good reason. I mean, he's my son, after all."

"Hai, I do understand sensei, but it sounds like you two need to talk this out. I don't think he's going to tell you about it. He wanted me to take him straight home, instead of coming here, because he didn't want you to find out what happened," Kakashi explained.

Minato looked deep in thought for a moment before answering. "I see. Sounds like I do need to have a talk with him, about quite a few things. Thank you for telling me all of this Kakashi."

"Not a problem, sensei. I care about Naruto as much as you do." Kakashi smiled under his mask.

"I know. That's why I selected you to be his bodyguard," Minato said, smiling at him. "Well, I'm going to go home and talk to Naruto. See you later," he said as he got up and made his way to the door.

"Ja ne," Kakashi said as he jumped out the window. _And good luck, sensei_ he thought.

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As Minato walked to the house, his thoughts were in turmoil. _I don't understand why Naruto couldn't tell me any of this. That he would go to such lengths to keep me from finding out. Am I that protective of him?_

When Minato got to his house, he talked to an ANBU that was stationed nearby. "Is everything alright with Naruto?" he asked him.

"Hai, Hokage-sama. Naruto-sama is currently in his room," he answered, bowing.

"Good. Thank you, you can resume your usual post," Minato told him.

"Hai, Hokage-sama!" he answered just before he disappeared.

Minato walked into the house and took off his outer white cloak with the red flames and hung it up on the wall. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair, as he looked up the stairs towards Naruto's room. _How do I approach this? Maybe the best thing to do is to see if he tells me the truth…_he thought as he made his way up the stairs.

He stopped in front of Naruto's door and paused for a moment. _This isn't so bad, I'm just going to talk with my own son._ He knocked on Naruto's door. "Naruto? It's me, Tousan. May I come in?" he asked.

Naruto had been lying on his bed, thinking about how to hide his black eye from his father. He was very surprised when he knocked at the door. _Shoot! I thought I'd have more time!_ He panicked and scrambled around the room for something to hide his black eye with.

Minato heard some strange noises coming from the room. "Naruto? Are you okay in there?" he asked worriedly.

"Um, yes, Tousan. Just a minute!" Naruto called. He found a pair of goggles under his bed that were slightly tinted. _These will have to do, _he thought. He quickly put them on. "Come in," he called again.

Minato opened the door and saw Naruto sitting on his bed…wearing goggles? _Hmm…looks like he really __is__ trying to hide this from me…_ Minato thought. _I'll play along for a while…_

"Naruto? Why are you wearing those goggles inside the house?" Minato asked as he walked over to Naruto, whose gaze was on his father the entire time as he sat next to him on the bed.

"Hmm? Oh, these? Well, you know, it's the latest thing. Everyone's doing it," Naruto lied, lamely, smiling, but Minato saw right through it.

"I see," Minato said skeptically. "How was the academy today?" Minato decided to change the subject. He was trying to draw Naruto out to tell him the truth.

"Fine," Naruto answered quickly. A little too quickly, cursing himself for doing so.

"Really? Nothing _particular _happened today?" Minato asked him.

"No. We're just learning the basic stuff, you know," Naruto answered nervously. _What's with all the questions?_

"You know, Naruto, you've been acting a bit strange ever since you started at the academy. Are you _sure_ there's nothing going on that you want to talk to me about?" Minato probed him as he crossed his arms.

Naruto laughed nervously, putting his hand behind his head. "No, Tousan! Everything's fine, really. But thanks for asking, though. Can I be alone now?"

"Sure. But first, I want you to take off your goggles," Minato told him.

"What?" Naruto asked, taken aback. "Why?" _Oh my gosh! Maybe he knows something. What'll I do?_

"Because, I asked you to. I don't care if it's the latest thing or not. Besides, I want to see your baby blue eyes," Minato continued as he looked at Naruto with a raised eyebrow.

"Do I have to?" Naruto whined and held his hands on either side of the goggles, as if to protect them.

"Yes. Why is that a problem?" Minato questioned him.

"Um, no reason, really. I just don't want to…" Naruto trailed off.

"There shouldn't be a problem with taking them off, Naruto. Unless… you're trying to hide something…" Minato said, casually.

Naruto laughed nervously. "What makes you say that, Tousan?" he sweat dropped.

"Oh, maybe because you're stalling. What are you hiding, Naruto?" Minato's tone turned suddenly serious.

Naruto panicked. _Does he know? How could he…unless…Kakashi! I bet he squealed on me when he went to talk to Tousan. Traitor!_ _I'm going to kill him next time I see him! _He thought. _Now what do I do? Make something up just in case he doesn't know?_

"I'll give you a choice, Naruto. Either you take off those goggles and tell me what's going on, or I _will_ find out…the hard way…" Minato told him sternly.

Naruto swallowed nervously again and started to remove the goggles with shaky hands. He braced himself for Minato's reaction.

Minato saw the black and blue mark around Naruto's eye and cheek. It looked painful and swollen, but it looked like it would be okay ...but still… "How did you get that black eye, Naruto?" Minato asked, with concern in his voice.

Naruto looked down. "At school…" he began.

"That tells me 'where' it happened. I asked 'how' it happened," Minato told him.

"I…um…well…I…tripped and fell down at school and hit my face on a rock," Naruto lied again, but Minato didn't buy it.

"Really? Must have been a pretty big rock to blacken your eye like that," Minato said playing along.

"Oh, it was," Naruto answered, unknowingly playing into Minato's hands.

"I see. And you somehow didn't see this rock to avoid it?" Minato asked, skeptically.

"Ah, no. It all happened so fast," Naruto said quickly.

Minato sighed. He had given Naruto every opportunity he could think of to tell him the truth. He really must have been scared that he might pull him out of academy, which, if Minato was honest with himself, he _had_ thought of doing. But maybe he had been too protective…but still…Naruto had lied to him and that had to be dealt with.

"Naruto," Minato started. "I know what _really_ happened today. You didn't fall and hit your eye," he said as Naruto stiffened visibly.

_Stupid Kakashi! He did squeal on me! _Naruto thought angrily.

"Um, what do you mean?" he asked, though he was afraid he already knew.

"Kakashi told me everything that happened. I wanted to give you the chance to tell me the truth. I'm very disappointed that you lied to me," Minato said as Naruto gulped.

Naruto looked down again. "Gomen nasai, Tousan. I was so afraid. I just want to prove to you that I can be a good ninja. I wanted to handle the situation myself," Naruto explained looking everywhere else but Minato. "I…was…afraid that if you found out…you might…pull me…out the academy," he finished hesitantly. He was afraid of what his father would do now. Would he really pull him out of the academy?

"In all fairness, Naruto, I do struggle with being protective of you. You're my only son, and if anything ever happened to you, I don't know what I'd do," Minato confessed. Naruto looked up at Minato in surprise. Minato continued. "I'm going to work on that. I won't pull you out of the academy." Naruto sighed in relief, but it was short lived. "However, you did lie to me, and that I cannot tolerate. You will have to be punished for that," Minato told him firmly as Naruto looked sadly at him, when he saw Minato's worried and angry gaze he turned away again.

"Hai, Tousan. I understand," Naruto answered and he was more upset that his father was disappointed in him rather than being punished by him.

"I want you to know that you can come to me and tell me anything, all right?" Minato told him, putting his hand under Naruto's chin to look at him.

"Okay, Tousan," Naruto answered.

Minato really wanted to know why these kids had been picking on Naruto, and why he was afraid to tell them who he really was. But he decided to give him a chance to work that out first before stepping in.

"Very well. Now about your punishment… I think I'm going to take some time to think over an appropriate punishment for you," Minato said rubbing Naruto's cheek before letting it go.

"Um…okay…that sounds fair," Naruto said, wondering what kind of punishment he would get.

"Now, I think we should put some ice on that eye to help with the swelling," Minato suggested. He gingerly touched Naruto's eye. Naruto flinched in response. "Hmmm…it's painful, huh? After you ice it for a while, we'll get some dinner. How about ramen?" Minato asked, smiling at him, making Naruto's eyes brighten a bit.

"That would be great…but…Tousan?" Naruto asked, hesitantly.

"Yes? What is it, Naruto?" Minato looked at Naruto with concern.

Naruto fidgeted with his the buttons on his shirt before continuing.

"I'm…kind of…afraid to go to back to school," Naruto said so quietly that Minato almost didn't hear him.

"Why is that, Naruto?" Minato asked.

"Well, it's just that…everyone will see my black eye and…they'll….they'll…" Naruto couldn't finish. He just hung his head. This was embarrassing and hard to admit.

Minato put his hand under Naruto's chin again, lifting his head up to face him. "They'll what, Naruto?" Minato asked him gently.

"They'll…laugh at me," Naruto finished. Would Minato think Naruto was a baby now?

"Naruto, have kids at school been teasing you over this bully?" Minato asked him, frowning a bit and letting go of Naruto's chin.

"Y-yes. They've been laughing at me, and making fun of my 'bodyguard'," Naruto answered. "When they see this," Naruto said, pointing to his eye, "it will just get worse. And I'm sure that bully will tell everyone what happened today."

Minato thought for a bit before answering. "Do you want me to help you solve this?" he asked Naruto. "Because I can speak to the kids who are bothering you."

Naruto looked down. "I…I…really want to handle this myself, Tousan. It's hard to get teased...but...I…just…want…you to be proud of me," he finished with a slight blush on his cheeks.

Minato smiled at his son. "Naruto, look at me." Naruto looked up. "I will always be proud of you no matter what, alright?" Naruto nodded his head. Minato continued. "As far as the bullies go, I will respect your feelings about it. However, I do want you to tell me if anything else happens to you, understand?"

Naruto fought back tears as he suddenly glomped his father. "Arigatou, tousan!" he said loudly as Minato laughed at how quickly his son could change moods.

Minato hugged him back, rubbing the top of his head. "Now, let's get that eye taken care of and then we can get that ramen!"

"Hai!" Naruto chirped, happily.

**TBC **

**AN: Sorry, just one more thing. A couple of people have pointed out that this story is similar to "Finding Nemo." This is NOT a re-make of that. Read the AN notes in chapter 1. I give full disclaimer and credit to the movie from which I got my inspiration and did borrow some from it, so please stop pointing that out to me. From now on, it will be ignored. I wanted to update with this chapter, since I had it done, but the next may take some time. I'm getting some help with it, and I'm struggling with some writer's block, so please bear with me! It will get finished! Now, kindly hit that submit button and tell me what you think!**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

**AN: Thank you for all the kind reviews! It really makes an author happy and keeps me motivated! A special thanks goes out to Hotari****-chan, who is my new beta. ****As always, I don't own Naruto. Enjoy!**

Minato's punishment had been mild. For the following week, Naruto would to go straight to his room after school and stay there until Minato got back from work, with Kakashi staying with him at all times. It wasn't appealing, but Naruto thought it could have been worse, like no ramen for a week. He didn't think he could take that!

Naruto was still a bit reluctant to go to school the next day. The swelling on his eye had come down, thanks to the ice treatment, but the bruising was still visible. He knew that the kids at school would tease him about it for sure. No doubt that bully would spread the word quickly. Knowing this, he waited until the last minute to walk into class, so that no one would have the opportunity to say anything to him. Making his way to the back of class, he didn't miss the stares he got, or the whispering. He sat down as far away from everyone as he could. It was going to be a long day.

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Minato was busily working in his office, all that darn paperwork. It always seemed to pile up so fast! Minato's thoughts kept drifting towards Naruto. He kept wondering how he was doing at school. Were the kids teasing him? Was he being picked on again? Would Naruto tell him if something happened? What if something even worse happened than last time? Maybe he should step in? Minato shook his head. No, he promised Naruto he would work on being less protective. He had to at least try to let Naruto work this out, but it was so hard to let go. At least Kakashi was there, to watch him. He could let go of some things, but that was something Minato couldn't do. He felt kind of bad that he still hadn't told Naruto about that whole situation, but Naruto just didn't understand that Minato had his best interests at heart. He knew that Naruto found out Kakashi was watching him all the time he wouldn't like it…not at all. 

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It was break time at the academy and all the kids ran happily outside. Naruto slowly and reluctantly made his way outside too. It wasn't long before a couple of his classmates came up to him. _Here it comes,_ Naruto thought.

"Hey, Namikaze! How'd you get that black eye?" one boy asked him, sneering.

"It's really none of your business," Naruto answered abruptly.

"Woah, touchy! Well, I know what happened! You guys want to hear?" The others cheered in agreement.

"I heard you lost a fight with that older boy. He got you good. Then your _bodyguard _came to save you again. Lucky for you, huh? Imagine the Yondaime's son, being such a wimp! I really thought you'd be a lot stronger Namikaze!" With that, they took off laughing. 

Naruto clenched his fists in anger. It was so unfair! They didn't even get the story straight! He had gotten a good hit in on that older boy! _I'd like to see any of them go up against that guy, and see how long they'd last! _He thought angrily as he watched the other kids playing together. It was then that he noticed another boy, who was sitting off by himself: A dark, raven-haired boy, with a dark blue shirt and white shorts. There were a couple of girls standing as close as they could to him, giggling and waving, trying to get the dark-haired boy's attention. _Girls, _thought Naruto. He couldn't help wonder why this boy was choosing to be alone. _Why haven't I noticed him before?_ Naurto thought as the bell rang, signaling the end of the break period. 

As everyone got back to class, Naruto again, choose to sit at the back of the class, noticing that the dark-haired boy did the same, at the opposite table as Naruto. It seemed like the boy was tired of the fan girls, who seemed very disappointed that he didn't sit with them. Something about this boy, piqued Naruto's curiosity, but he couldn't explain what it was. Suddenly the dark-haired boy looked right at him! _Shoot! Was I staring at him?_ Naruto thought as he quickly looked away.

Just then, the class instructor came in. His name was Umino Iruka. "Alright class, let's settle down. Today, I'm going to be assigning each of you a class project that you will do with a partner. I have already randomly assigned each of you to your partner." Groans throughout the class could be heard in response to this news.

The blonde-haired girl from outside said to her pink-haired friend, "I bet I'll be assigned to Sasuke-kun."

"Yeah, right, Ino. It could just as easily be me. Although, I wouldn't mind the Yondaime's son either," the pink-haired girl said dreamily. Being seen with the Yondaime's son would put her up on the social ladder.

"Whatever, Sakura. Neither one of them would be interested in you, anyway," Ino told Sakura, pointing to her wide forehead. 

"What?" Sakura yelled back and they started fighting back and forth.

"Ahem," Iruka coughed loudly, to get the classes attention again. "I will read off your names of who you'll be with, and then I hand out your assignments which will have detailed instructions. So listen up while I call out your name and your partner's name. Yamanaka Ino and Hurano Sakura."

Both girls stopped their fighting long enough to glance up at their sensei in surprise. "I can't believe I'm stuck with you!" they both said at the same time.

"Next are Nara Shikamaru and Akimichi Choji." Shikamauru looked over at Choji, who was busy stuffing his face with potato chips. "This will be troublesome," he said to himself.

"Aburame Shino and Inuzuka Kiba." _Fantastic, just my luck,_ Kiba thought. Shino had an unreadable expression on his face. 

"Hyuuga Hinata and Amachi Ami." Hinata nervously twiddled her fingers together, while the other girl just rolled her eyes.

"Namikaze Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke." Naruto looked up at this. He wondered which boy was Uchiha Sasuke. Naruto still didn't know all of his classmates' names yet. Maybe this boy knew him? He looked around, but didn't see any recognition. He supposed he would have to ask the instructor. He raised his hand. 

"Yes?" Iruka asked.

"Ano…I don't know who Uchiha Sasuke is…sensei," Naruto asked. A couple of people, who knew exactly who Sasuke was, laughed at poor Naruto's naivety.

"He's sitting across from you," Iruka pointed in the said direction as Naruto followed to discover that Sasuke was none other than the dark-hair boy, he had seen earlier. Naruto looked at him in surprise. Sasuke looked back at Naruto briefly, and then turned away. 

"Alright, now that you have your partner's names, I'm going to pass out your assignments, which should be completed within a week." Iruka explained as he passed out the assignments. "These are designed for you to get to know each other and work together. You won't be able to complete the assignment without the help of your partner. You will have some time in class to work on your assignment, but the majority of if will have to be completed outside of class." 

Everyone busily looked over what he/she was supposed to do. When Naruto got his assignment, he looked it over carefully, as did Sasuke. Their assignment was to complete a simple surveillance mission on a member of their family, or someone in the village. In order to get a passing grade, they would have to be able to do the surveillance without being noticed then report their findings back to the instructor.

Naruto was in deep thought. _A member of our family, huh? Tousan would certainly be more exciting than some random villager. But how to make it work?_ He would have to give that more thought. Maybe Sasuke would have some ideas. On the bright side, his father couldn't keep him grounded anymore, because of the project. He grinned at the thought. He couldn't wait to tell his father about it.

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When school was over for the day, Naruto thought it best to introduce himself to Sasuke, so they could start getting acquainted. After all, they were going to spending a lot of time together, working on this project. 

As everyone made their way outside, Naruto saw Sasuke sitting by himself…waiting for someone perhaps? He walked over to Sasuke.

"Hi," Naruto said. "Since we're going to be working together, I thought I'd introduce myself. I'm-"

"You're the Yondaime's son," Sasuke interrupted him.

"I do have a _name_ you know," Naruto replied, a little more harshly than he intended. "It's Namikaze Naruto," he said grinning and holding out his hand.

Sasuke looked at the blonde appraisingly. _He has some guts. And he's pretty friendly for being the Yondaime's son. I thought he'd have a chip on his shoulder or something,_ he thought. He shook Naruto's hand. "Nice black eye. How'd you get it?" Sasuke asked curiously.

"Um…it's a long story that I'd rather not go into right now," Naruto said, looking away from Sasuke, who raised a brow at him. "So, about this project. Any ideas on what we can do?" Naruto asked him, changing the conversation.

"Not really. Since we can do it on a member of our family, I thought about doing my brother," Sasuke answered. "Did you have someone in mind?" he asked Naruto.

Naruto blushed a little. "Well, yes, actually. I was thinking of…" he didn't get to finish as an older boy showed up at the school. Sasuke stood up. "I'm sorry. I have to go. We'll talk about it later," Sasuke said just before he left and walked over to the older boy.

Naruto curiously watched him leave. The older boy had to be Sasuke's brother that he had mentioned to Naruto earlier. They seemed pretty happy together. He wondered what it would be like to have a sibling. Suddenly a puff of smoke appeared next to Naruto making him a jump a little and revealing Kakashi.

"Yo!" he said, holding up a hand in greeting.

"I wish you wouldn't just 'appear' like that," said Naruto irritably as they began walking.

"Someday you'll be able to do it too. Then we'll see if you still feel that way," Kakashi said with his eye smile.

"Ne, Kakashi-san?" Naruto asked the jounin.

"Hm?"

"I know I'm grounded, but I need to go to Tousan's office first. There's something that I need to tell him," Naruto explained.

"More troubles at school?" Kakashi asked him, curiously.

"No, nothing like that," Naruto answered, rolling his eyes. "I have a school project that requires time outside of class that I have to talk to him about."

"I see. Very well," Kakashi said as they changed direction to head towards Hokage tower.

After arriving at the tower, knocking on Minato's door and hearing the 'come in', Minato was surprised to see Kakashi and Naruto walk in. "Naruto? Kakashi? What are you doing here? Naruto, did you forget that you're grounded?" Minato asked.

"No, Tousan, but there's something I need to talk to you about," Naruto explained. "I just couldn't wait until you came home."

_Oh my gosh! I wonder if Naruto is being picked on again,_ Minato thought, feeling panicky.

"Well, I'll just be going then. Later!" Kakashi said, leaving quickly, wanting to give father and son some privacy.

"What's going on, Naruto? Are you having more trouble at school again?" Minato asked, trying to keep the panic out of his voice.

"No, no, it's nothing like that, Tousan, really," Naruto said, assuring his father. "It's that we've all been assigned a school project. We have to work with a partner and it's going to involve some time outside class, which it going to be hard for me to complete if I'm grounded," he finished.

"I see," Minato said, relaxing now that he knew nothing was wrong with Naruto. "When is this project due?"

"In a week. Convenient, huh?" Naruto asked, grinning widely.

"Well, I guess I'll have to postpone your punishment, then, won't I?" Minato said, smirking. Naruto's smile disappeared. "That's right, don't think I was going to let you out of it," Minato told him.

"Fine," Naruto said, crossing him arms and pouting a bit.

Minato couldn't help but smile at his son's antics. "So, tell me about this project of yours?"

Naruto looked up. "Well, we have to do some surveillance without being noticed, and then report our findings back to the instructor," he said, purposefully not mentioning that he wanted to do his project on Minato. 

"That sounds like a good challenge," Minato said. _Hmmm…there's no way I can let Naruto go out and do this alone. I'll have to have Kakashi watch him,_ he thought. He made a mental note to talk to the Jounin about it later.

"Yeah, I guess. Tousan? Do you know anything about Uchiha Sasuke?" Naruto asked.

"Uchiha?" Minato repeated. "I know about the clan, yes. They are a very elite clan here in the village. I take that Sasuke is your partner for this project?"

"Hai. His brother came and picked up from school today," Naruto said.

"Ah, that would be Itachi. From what I hear, he's quite the genius," Minato said, thoughtfully.

"Really? Why?" Asked Naruto, curious to know more about this boy's family.

"Well, from what I've heard Itachi graduated from the academy at age seven. He was then able to activate the clan's special advanced bloodline ability of the Sharingan at age eight. Then at age ten, he became a Chunin. Their father is the head of the military police force," Minato explained.

"Wait-what's the Sharingan?" Naruto asked, curiously.

"It's literally "Copy Wheel Eye," a special eye technique that allows the user great abilities. For example, they can memorize any technique that they have seen, including ninjutsu, genjutsu and taijutsu techniques. It also can be used to hypnotize your opponent. And lastly, it can see through any illusionary technique," Minato explained to Naruto.

"Oh, wow that's so cool! I bet Sasuke will be able to do it too! Do we have any special bloodline abilities, Tousan?" Naruto asked, excitedly.

"No, I'm afraid not, Naruto. But as you know, I've developed a few of my own techniques, which I will teach you, one day," Minato told his son.

"I hope you will teach me soon, Tousan. Because I want to be the greatest ninja of them all!" Naruto boasted.

Minato smiled. "All in good time, Naruto. Well, I've had it with this paperwork. Let's go home now, and get some dinner." When he saw Naruto about to open his mouth, he said, "No ramen, tonight, Naruto. You eat too much of it," Minato told him firmly.

Naruto pouted and folded his arms again. This time, Minato couldn't help but laugh out loud at his son.

**TBC**

**AN: I know this chapter was short, but I ran out of ideas at the end. It may not be the greatest, but it's gearing up for the next chapter which should be more exciting, but also there may be a longer wait, as I don't have it written yet, and it's still in the brainstorming process. I want it to be good, so please be patient. Now hit and review button and tell me what you think**!


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

**AN: ****Sorry it took me so long to get this out. I couldn't decide which chapter to post after the last one and then I had to brainstorm it, write it out, and have it beta'd. I want to thank all of you who have reviewed and added me to their favorites. I want to give a special thanks to MrsHellman and Hotari-chan for beta'ing and helping me out. There are traces of Finding Nemo in here, so I give it full credit! Also, I don't own Naruto, k? Enjoy!**

The next day, after being dropped off at school, by Minato, Naruto went to class, wanting to talk to Sasuke about their project. He really had it firmly in his mind that their subject for observation should be his father. Naruto's dream was to be Hokage one day, so what better way to learn? He just had to convince Sasuke. It wouldn't be an easy project, with his father being the Yondaime, but Naruto was up to the challenge.

Not having time before class, to see and talk to Sauske, Naruto waited impatiently until break time. When it finally came, he rushed outside to catch up with Sasuke.

"Oi! Sasuke!" Naruto called to him, as he spotted him outside. Sasuke turned his head towards the blonde, giving a small wave. Naruto came running up to him.

"Hey, I wanted to talk to you about our project," Naruto started, excitedly. Sasuke wondered why Naruto was so energetic. "I have someone great in mind. I didn't get a chance to tell you yesterday," he continued.

"Yeah? Who is it?" Sasuke asked, curious about who Naruto had in mind.

"My Tousan," Naruto announced proudly.

Sasuke looked at him incredulously. "Are you crazy? He's the Yondaime. We'll never pull that off."

"I think we can. Besides, it will be a good challenge. I want this to be really exciting," Naruto gushed.

"Why do you want to observe your father so much?" Sasuke asked him, still not convinced.

"Because, I'm going to be Hokage some day. And this will help me on the way to my dream!" Naruto said, proudly.

Sasuke raised a brow. "I don't know…My dream is to become part of my tousan's police force…" he trailed off.

"Well, what better way to train for that than to observe Tousan?" Naruto coaxed. When Sasuke didn't respond, Naruto added, "Come on, Sasuke. Don't tell me you're going to back down from a challenge. You're not afraid, are you?" Naruto teased him.

That did it for Sasuke. He wasn't about to back down from a challenge. Even if it seemed impossible, he would give it his best shot. "Okay, I'm in."

"Great! We'll talk some more about planning out how we're going to do this," Naruto told him.

Break time was now over, and everyone made their way back inside. Naruto and Sasuke talked a bit more on their way back to class. Naruto was really pumped about this whole project. He was determined to do the best he could. This was his chance to show what he could do.

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After school and saying goodbye to Sasuke, Naruto waited for Kakashi to pick him up. As he waited, he started to think about his last encounter with the bully at school. For the time being, he seemed to be leaving Naruto alone. He really hadn't given it much thought until now, as he had been preoccupied with the project at school. Now that Naruto was alone, he began to think about the bully again. He remembered the last words he had said to him, "_I'm not done with you yet."_ Maybe he was just biding his time? If Kakashi would just stop 'butting in' Naruto _knew_ he could handle it.

About a half hour had passed, and Naruto was still waiting for Kakashi to show. Everyone had long since left. He was beginning to wonder where the jounin could be. Although Kakashi did have a reputation for being late, this was getting ridiculous.

_I wonder where Kakashi-san is? I mean, it's getting really late. How long am I supposed to wait here? Everyone else has gone home,_ Naruto thought as he angrily kicked a stone across the ground.

Little did Naruto know, that the gang of bullies were actually nearby watching him. They, too, were waiting to see if the jounin 'bodyguard' would show up. They didn't want to risk encountering him again. They had been observing Naruto for a while, without him knowing. They were indeed waiting for their chance to 'pay him back.'

Naruto sighed as he looked at the time again. "This is crazy! I can't wait here any longer!" he said, completely fed up with waiting for the jounin.

He _knew_ it was against his father's rules to leave the academy alone, but he was tired of waiting and decided to risk it. Who would bother him anyway? The village was perfectly safe in his mind. Naruto still didn't understand why his father was so uptight about it. So he set out towards Minato's office. He thought it best to go there, rather than to the house. He knew his father would be angry about it, but at this point, he didn't care.

_I'll just tell Tousan what happened and that Kakashi-san never showed up. I mean I waited for over an hour. It's crazy!_ Naruto thought as he left the safety of the academy grounds. He was willing to risk his father's wrath over it, just so he wouldn't die of boredom.

The gang watched him leave, and saw that he was alone. "This is our chance. I'm going to get my revenge. I'll show that brat once and for all whose boss. Let's go!" said the leader of the boys. They all agreed. This was definitely the opportunity they had been waiting for. They followed Naruto from a distance, waiting for the opportunity to strike, like a deserted street.

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Meanwhile, Kakashi had been watching Naruto all day, but then he got called at the last minute to something else. He sent a message to Minato just before leaving. He figured that Minato would get word to Naruto and that he would just wait for Kakashi to come.

When Kakashi finally arrived at the academy however, he didn't see Naruto around. _Hmm…that's strange. I wonder if sensei picked him up? _Kakashi checked inside just in case, but didn't see Naruto there or anywhere else on the grounds. _Surely he wouldn't have left here by himself, would he?_ Kakashi wondered. _I better check in with sensei_, he thought as he left quickly for the Hokage tower.

When Kakashi got to Minato's office, he knocked, but didn't wait for answer he just walked in. "Sensei, I'm sorry to interrupt, but…."

Minato looked up, anxiously. "Kakashi? What's going on?" He didn't see Naruto with him either. He was worried. _Not again,_ he thought.

"Well, I was hoping Naruto was with you. You see, I was late picking him up today, got called away. I sent a message to you, but I assume you didn't get it," Kakashi explained.

Minato frowned. "No, I didn't."

Kakashi went on. "Well, I got to the academy as soon as I could, but Naruto wasn't there," he said, putting his hand behind his head as he smiled nervously.

"What!?" Minato yelled, standing up quickly.

"Sumimasen, sensei. I assumed you got my message, and that he would still be there or with you by now. I can only guess now that he must have got tired of waiting and left by himself…" Kakashi trailed off.

"Never mind that now! We have to find him! Let's spilt up and you use your bunshin and cover the east part of the village. I'll search the west," Minato instructed. "And take this radio, so we can stay in contact."

"Hai, sensei!" Kakashi vanished.

Minato vanished as well, and re-appeared on the street below. _Naruto! I hope you're all right. _He thought as he searched out his son's chakra.

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Naruto was about halfway to Minato's office now, completely unaware that he was being followed or the alarm that he had caused Kakashi and his father. He decided to take a shortcut down a more deserted street. It would save time.

"This is our chance, guys. There's no one around. Let me handle this. I'll tell you if I want you," the leader said and couldn't keep himself from laughing in anticipation.

"Hai!" his friends said and laughed as well. This was going to be really fun to watch.

Naruto was walking slowly when suddenly, someone jumped out in front of him, blocking his path.

"Going somewhere?" a familiar voice said as Naruto looked up.

It was the bully-boy, again. _Figures, _Naruto thought to himself.

"I owe you one for that 'lucky' hit you got in on me last time. And I can't help but notice that your 'bodyguard' isn't around to protect you this time," the boy sneered at him.

"I don't _need_ him to 'protect' me. I can do that on my own," Naruto answered him coolly. He looked around for the others. "Where's your entourage?"

"They're around. But this is between you and me, kid. You're finally going to get what's coming to you," the boy said, preparing to fight Naruto.

Naruto took a fighting stance as well. He might actually have a chance to do something on his own this time, now that Kakashi was nowhere around. Then he could finally prove to everyone that he couldn't be pushed around.

"I hope you have insurance, kid, because you're going to need it when I'm done with you," the boy said menacingly. He started to run towards Naruto.

He swung at him, but Naruto blocked him. He smiled as he kicked the boy's feet out from under him. The boy recovered, landing on his hands and tried to kick Naruto, who jumped out of the way.

"Stop _trying_ to hit me, and hit me," Naruto teased. "If you can that is…" he smiled again.

"You're dead meat, brat," the boy responded as he charged Naruto again, faster this time. "I'm gonna show you! No one treats me like this and gets away with it!"

He was aiming another punch at Naruto who started to avoid it when suddenly someone had appeared, right between them, blocking the punch with one hand. It seemingly came out of thin air.

"That's far enough," said a voice that Naruto recognized. "I can't believe you're picking on a young boy, let alone, _my son."_ It was Minato and he was really furious.

The boy was stunned. He now recognized who this was also. "Hokage-sama!" He bowed deeply. "I didn't know h-he was y-your son," he spluttered.

"That much is obvious," Minato answered. "Regardless, you shouldn't be picking on children, especially ones that are younger than you," he continued in a stern tone, as the boy was shaking with fear.

"H-hai!" he answered, terrified. "I won't, Hokage-sama! Ever again!"

"Good to hear," Minato said. "Now, I want you to apologize to Naruto, and tell him that you'll never bother him again," Minato said as Naruto looked up him in surprise. He felt horrified. This was so embarrassing! First Kakashi and now his father. Having his father 'save' him was bad enough, then revealing their relationship, and now this?

"Tousan, that's not really-" Naruto started to say.

"Yes, it is necessary, Naruto. I'll deal with your infraction later," Minato said, in a no-nonsense tone. Naruto wisely shut up. He could tell that Minato wasn't in a mood to be trifled with.

"I humbly and sincerely offer my apologies to you Naruto-sama. Please forgive me," the boy said, bowing to him as Naruto looked away, embarrassed, a blush appearing on his cheeks.

Minato leaned down to speak to him. "Don't you have something to say, Naruto?" He pressed him.

"I forgive you," Naruto said, reluctantly, still not looking at Minato or the boy.

"I will never bother you again," the boy finished.

"Good, all settled. You'd better go home now, and remember what I said, young man," Minato warned him, sternly.

"Hai!" he said, and took off as fast as he could, his friends were nowhere to be seen.

Naruto decided to speak again. "Tousan! That was so embarrassing! Word is going to spread around the academy about this. Besides, I had him handled!" he shouted angrily, his face still red from embarrassment.

Minato looked down at him. "That's the least of your worries right now, Naruto. You broke the rule about leaving the academy without an escort!" said Minato sternly.

Naruto put his hand behind his head. "Well, about that... I can explain…"

"Not here," Minato said. "I'm taking you home, where I can _deal _with you properly," he said and this made Naruto gulp. "First I'm going to radio Kakashi that I found you. You had me worried sick!" Minato tuned in the frequency. "Kakashi?"

"Hai, sensei?" Came the lazy reply.

"I found Naruto and I'm taking him home so we'll talk later. Thanks for your help," Minato told him.

"No problem, sensei. Over and out," Kakashi said.

Minato turned off the radio. He picked Naruto up, holding him under one arm, much to his protest, and used his hiraishin no jutsu to get them home quickly.

After they were inside, Minato put Naruto down. "Go upstairs to your room, Naruto. I'll be up in a minute," he said with a stern and hard voice.

Naruto nodded sadly, and way his way upstairs, slowly. He knew he was in big trouble now.

Minato needed a few minutes to calm himself. He didn't want to punish Naruto out of anger, or do anything rash. When he felt he was calm enough, he went up to Naruto's room. He found Naruto's door open, so he came in.

"I trust you understand the severity of what you have done, Naruto," Minato began, pacing the floor in front of Naruto's bed, where Naruto sat, watching Minato nervously.

"I…well…um…" Naruto started, looking down.

"You're darn lucky that it was only a bully after you and not some ninja from another country, who could have kidnapped you or worse," Minato went on. "What were you thinking?" Though relieved that Naruto was safe, Minato was still worried and angry that he had done something like this.

"No! But I…got tired of waiting for Kakashi-san. He was over an hour late! I thought it wouldn't be that big of a deal to walk to your office…" Naruto explained, not looking at Minato.

Minato sighed. "Kakashi does play his part in this, but you _know_ that under no circumstances are you supposed to be without an escort," Minato said sternly. "I think I made that very clear to you before you ever started school, did I not?" he asked.

"Hai, you did, Tousan, but-" began Naruto.

"Kakashi was concerned about you, and you nearly gave me a heart attack! You could have been hurt, kidnapped, or killed!" Minato interrupted. "If you think you can do these things, you just can't, Naruto! You're the Hokage's son!" He finished loudly.

Naruto looked up at his father. He heard the anger in his voice, but he also saw the concern in his father's eyes. Tears began to form in his eyes, threatening to fall down.

"G-gomen nasai, T-Tousan," Naruto said, in a trembling voice. "I just want you to let me be a ninja. I want to be able to defend and take care of myself. Someday, I want to be the Hokage, like you are. I-I w-want to m-make something of m-myself and show you I-I can do it. But I can't fulfill my dreams if you don't let me t-try," Naruto finished, crying outright.

When Minato saw Naruto crying, his heart softened. He hated to see his son cry. Perhaps he _had _over reacted and was too hard on Naruto. If Naruto was going to become a ninja, Minato would have to start letting go of him sooner or later, and allow Naruto to start taking care of himself. Sighing, he came over and sat down on the bed next to him, putting his arms around him. Naruto just cried into his cloak.

"Shhh…it's alright, Naruto. I understand how you feel, and I'm sorry too. I'm still having a hard time letting go of you, because you're my only son and I want to protect you. But I promise you that I will do all I can to make your dreams happen. I do need you to do something for me though," said Minato gently as Naruto's crying slowed to sniffles.

He looked up at his father, tears still on his cheeks.

"Because of who you are, you are very important. You have to have some protection, especially right now, as you are young and still in training. However, when you are older, I will give you more freedom, within certain limits," Minato said, smiling at his son.

"Really, T-Tousan?" Naruto asked.

"Yes. But you have to remember something Naruto. There will always be people out there, who will want to harm you to get to me. So always be on your guard," Minato told him seriously. "It's the price you pay for being my son, and I'm sorry for that," he continued, a sad smile replacing the soft one.

"Don't be, Tousan. I'm really proud to be your son," Naruto assured him. "I just want to be as good as you o-or," Naruto hesitated for a moment. "Or better," he giggled.

"Is that so?" Minato teased. "Well, you'll have some hard work ahead of you. But I believe you can do it," said Minato and hugged Naruto tight.

"Arigatou, Tousan," Naruto said, hugging his father back. "I love you so much," he said, grinning.

Minato kissed the top of his forehead. "I love you too, Naruto and I will always be proud of you," Minato's grin now identical to Naruto's.

They sat just like that for a couple of minutes, with an occasional sniffle or hiccup coming from Naruto. He wiped his nose on his sleeve. Naruto felt warm and comfortable, leaning into his father's embrace, hearing his heartbeat and feeling his father's warmth. After awhile though, Naruto began to wonder if his father was going to punish him for breaking the rule. He was afraid to ask, but he had to know, so he finally broke the silence.

"Tousan?" Naruto asked, shyly.

"Hmm?" Minato answered while stroking Naruto's hair.

"Are you…going to…punish me?" Naruto asked, hesitantly.

"What do you think I should do, Naruto?" Minato asked him with an evil grin that caused Naruto to blink several times.

"I'm already grounded for next week," Naruto pointed out. "Isn't that good enough?" he asked hopefully.

"That's true, Naruto, but learning to obey your superiors is an important skill all ninja must learn. I know you are sorry, but I want the message to 'sink' in for you," Minato told him. "But I will work on being less overprotective, alright?"

"Okay, Tousan. I guess that's fair." _Darn it! _

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In addition to being grounded next week, Naruto had to go without his beloved ramen for the rest of this week. That was far worse than being grounded. Naruto's had pleaded with his father to change it, but Minato wouldn't budge. He had just told Naruto he ate too much of it anyway, and that this would really be good for him. Naruto didn't quite see it that way, however.

He was now completing the last part of his punishment that Minato had insisted that he do. Naruto was currently leaning nervously against his father's legs, twisting the hem of his father's white cloak in his hands.

Kakashi looked amusingly between the two as Minato bucked Naruto lightly with his knee.

"Ano, Kakashi-san?" Naruto asked quietly, staring at his hands, still twisting the fabric of his father's hem.

Minato reached down and gently angled Naruto's head to face Kakashi.

Swallowing nervously, Naruto went on. "I'm um, sorry that I didn't wait for you to arrive at school. Gomen-nasai," Naruto said as he bowed low to Kakashi.

Kakashi smiled behind his mask, as he ruffled Naruto's hair, affectionately, causing the little boy to look up.

"Apology accepted, Naruto. I'm sorry for not being there for you," Kakashi said. He knelt down to Naruto's level. "Your tousan wasn't very happy with me for that," he added quietly, as Naruto's eyes went wide with surprise. "Just keep that between us, though." Kakashi stood up and gave Naruto a wink.

"Hai!" Naruto chirped.

"Would you like to come in?" Kakashi offered.

"Thanks, but we can't. Other things to attend to," Minato explained. Kakashi nodded in understanding.

"See you later, then," Kakashi said, as they left.

Naruto looked up at his Tousan. "You did well, Naruto," Minato told him, rubbing the top of his head. Naruto leaned into his father's touch. He was just glad that was over. Now if he could just survive the rest of the week without ramen…and then there was still his school project to do. Naruto sighed. It was going to be a long week.

**TBC**

**AN: Hope you enjoyed this. Some situations may have been unrealistic or OC, but it was necessary for this to come out the way I wanted it. The next chapter is done and beta'd so there won't be nearly as long of a wait. Now please hit the review button to your left and tell me what you think! It will help me so much!!**


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

**AN: I want to thank all of you who have reviewed and added me to their favorites. I want to give a special thanks to MrsHellman and Hotari-chan for beta'ing and helping me out. There is a spoiler warning for Jiraiya in here, so if you haven't read the manga, then skip over that part. Also, I don't own ****Naruto, k? Enjoy, it's a long one!**

The following morning, Naruto woke up, a bit later than usual, and hurried to get ready for school. He came into the kitchen, seeing his father at the table, eating. He noticed that his father already put Naruto's breakfast on the table.

Seeing Naruto come in, Minato smiled and said, "Ah, good morning, son. Glad you see that you finally woke up. I was about to come in and get you."

"Yeah, sorry about that," Naruto said, sitting down to eat. "Ne, Tousan?" he started to ask.

Minato looked up from eating. "Hmm?"

Naruto shifted in his seat a bit. "About this project. I was kind of wondering, you know, since I'm doing a surveillance project and all…are you…okay with me doing this on my own?" he finally got the question out.

Minato looked thoughtful for a moment before answering. "Well, since you're going to be with a partner, I think it will be fine," he finally said. "Just remember for shinobi the one thing that is the most important above all else is teamwork. You need to look out for each other," he stressed. Sasuke would no doubt be fairly responsible, given what his family was like, but Minato wanted to impress upon Naruto the importance of teamwork. He remembered telling his own team that years ago. Later on, it really had an impact on Kakashi. Minato didn't want his son to learn the hard way. It was also reassuring to Minato that Kakashi would still be watching Naruto also, just in case. Minato justified this by remembering that he had told Naruto earlier that he still needed some protection for the time being. Naruto didn't really need to know; it would be safer that way.

"Okay, Tousan, I will," Naruto promised, not really understanding why his father stressed that with him. However, he was both surprised and pleased that his father was going to let him do this. _Maybe he's finally starting to let go a little,_ he thought. "I'm really excited about this project, Tousan. It's our first assignment, almost like a real mission!" he gushed.

Minato smiled at his son's enthusiasm. "Yes, I'm sure it will be very educational. I could give you some tips if you like," he offered.

"Tips? Sure thing!" Naruto answered.

"Well, first off, make sure you know your surroundings. Scope things out and know what you're getting into," Minato said. "Second, know where your subject is at all times, and don't lose sight of him." Naruto was hanging on every word. Minato continued. "Third, use stealth. That is your greatest advantage as a ninja. And lastly, make sure you always have a way out of the situation, if you happen to give away your position, or the situation just calls for a quick exit. That's very important," Minato finished.

Naruto thought this over. He hoped he would remember all of that. As he finished his breakfast, he heard a knock at the door. Naruto got up to answer it, and was surprised to see Kakashi there.

"Yo!" Kakashi said in greeting.

"Come in, Kakashi," Minato called from the kitchen. Naruto stood aside to let the jounin pass by. He was curious as to why he was here. Naruto followed him into the kitchen.

"I got your message, sensei," Kakashi told Minato.

Minato nodded knowingly in response and addressed Naruto. "Kakashi is going to take you to school today, Naruto," Minato told him. "I have to get to the office right away today." After handing Naruto his lunch, he bent down and said, "Have a good day," and ruffled his hair as he walked by and out the door.

Naruto blushed and then left with Kakashi. As they walked to school, Naruto couldn't help but wonder about the message Kakashi had gotten from his father. He shrugged it off. No doubt it was just some of his father's Hokage stuff. He really had it firmly in his mind that their subject for observation should be his father. Naruto's dream was to be Hokage one day, so what better way to learn? He just had to convince Sasuke. It wouldn't be an easy project, with his father being the Yondaime, but Naruto was up to the challenge.

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After being dropped off at school, Kakashi left, and Naruto saw Sasuke outside. Sasuke noticed the silver-haired jounin dropping Naruto off. Naruto made his way over to Sasuke.

"Hey, Sasuke! This is the day! I'm excited and nervous about it. How about you?" Naruto asked him with a grin.

"I feel pretty good. We need to work out as much detail before we set out as possible, since we are talking about the Yondaime here," Sasuke told him.

"I agree. I'm sure we'll get some class time to work out some details. We can talk about it then. Let's head in," Naruto said. Just then they heard a voice from behind calling them.

"Oi, Sasuke-kun! Naruto-kun," Sakura came up to them. "How are you?" Sasuke merely rolled his eyes.

"Sakura-san…was it?" Naruto asked, trying to remember this girl's name.

Sakura giggled. "You can just call me Sakura," she said to him. Ino came up behind her.

"Hogging all the good ones to yourself, Sakura?" Ino chided. Fortunately the bell rang, and they all had to headed to class. Naruto waved as he and Sasuke went in together.

_I wonder why she was giggling at us, _Naruto thought as they went and sat down at their seats. _Sasuke doesn't seem to like them around, either._

Iruka came in and started addressing the class. "Okay, everyone. Today, we're going to start off by talking about some fundamentals that you need to know. Later on, I'll be giving you about 30 minutes to work out some last minute details about your project."

Everyone murmured their agreements. Naruto couldn't wait until he could talk to Sasuke more about the project. He kept daydreaming, while Iruka was going on about ninja fundamentals. He was thinking about how one day, he would become Hokage himself, and earn everyone's respect. They only saw him as the Yondaime's son, not as an individual. Naruto wanted to change that.

It finally came time to have some discussion time about the projects. Everyone got together with their partners and starting talking.

Sasuke turned to Naruto. "Is your tousan going to be in his office today?" he asked.

"Yeah, as far as I know," Naruto answered.

"Alright. Then that's the first place we'll start. We should get up on the roof tops, and make our over to the tower, and we can climb up to the top fairly easily because of its spiral design," Sasuke continued.

"Right. There is a ledge outside the window. But Tousan's window is long and wide, almost U shaped, so we'll have to be careful he doesn't see us," Naruto said.

"Okay. We should approach from the west side, so we don't cast any shadows for him to see," Sasuke went on. "From there, we can set up for observation. We need to communicate with signals, so we don't give away our position. Here's the ones we'll use," Sasuke explained as he showed Naruto what they were.

Naruto nodded in understanding. "I think we're as ready as we'll ever be."

Iruka addressed the class again. "Okay, time's up. I'm now going to give you some class time to actually go out and work on your assignments. You are to return to the academy by noontime. Good luck!"

Naruto and Sasuke made their way over to Hokage tower. When they got close enough, they climbed up on the roof of a nearby building and carefully, made their way over to the tower. They climbed the spiral ledges all the way to the top, carefully avoiding windows. They saw the ledge and the large bay window that Naruto recognized as his father's. He signaled to Sasuke and they took opposite positions on the edge of the ledge outside the window. They both quickly looked through and saw the Yondaime working at his desk. Then they quickly hid themselves again.

Sasuke signaled to Naruto, and directed him as he crept along the ledge until he was directly under the window that was closest to the desk. Sasuke indicated that he would watch from the corner. Naruto pressed his ear against the wall, hoping he could hear anything that would be going on. All they could do was wait, and hold their position.

Thirty minutes later, the boys were getting tired and bored. Minato had done nothing but paperwork during that time. They were beginning to get stiff, from being in the same positions for so long.

Just then, they heard a knock on the door. Naruto heard his father say, 'come in'. A ninja entered.

"Hokage-sama," he bowed.

"Yes?" Minato asked, glad for a break in the paperwork.

"Jiraiya-sama has returned and wishes to see you," the man announced.

Minato chuckled. He wondered what his former sensei was up to. "I'll go down and bring him up. I need to stretch and take a break, anyway," he answered.

"Hai, Hokage-sama," the man said, and left.

The boys saw Minato get up and leave the office. Naruto turned to Sasuke and whispered, "Now what?"

"Let's go in for minute and see what we find. Maybe we can learn what your tousan will be doing, so we'll know where to go next," Sasuke suggested.

"Okay," Naruto answered. They got the window open and climbed into the office. They approached Minato's desk and started looking at all the papers and scrolls.

"Wow, this is a lot of paperwork," Naruto commented. "I don't know how Tousan does it all day long. It seems so boring," he said.

"Yeah, but some of these are documents about up coming missions," Sasuke pointed out, as he looked at the papers. "I heard my Tousan talking about this one, earlier," he continued.

Naruto started picking up some papers and seemed to be looking for something. Sasuke noticed what he was doing.

"What are you doing? Put those back! Use your brain, your tousan will notice for sure!" Sasuke told Naruto.

Naurto put the papers back as correctly as he could. "Hey, I am the Yondaime's son, you know. I was just looking for Tousan's bingo book," he explained.

"Well, act like it. You really think that he would leave something that important out in the open, like that?" Sasuke asked him.

"You're right. I'm going to look in the drawers," Naruto answered. Sasuke just rolled his eyes. For being the son of the Hokage, Naruto wasn't exactly the sharpest tool in the shed.

When Naruto didn't find the bingo book, he started walking away from the desk and began looking around the office more, getting further away from the window. Sasuke was still by the desk. When he saw Naruto wandering too far away, he was going to call him to come back when they suddenly heard voices.

"Someone's coming! Let's go!" Sasuke hissed to Naruto as he scrambled out the window to safety.

He waited for Naruto who starting running back towards the desk. The voices were getting louder, accompanied by laughter. Naruto panicked as he heard the voices right outside the door. Time to seemed to slow down as Naruto heard the door opening. He looked down, thinking about how he would fail if he got caught. There wasn't time to get out now without being seen. Sasuke quickly shut the window and signaled for Naruto to hide. Seeing the desk as his only option, he quickly lunged under it, knocking the chair to the side, and sending a few papers sailing across the desk, just as Minato and Jiraiya entered the office.

Sasuke breathed a sigh of relief that Naruto was hidden from sight just in time. _That was close, but we're not out of the woods yet,_ he thought, as he remained hidden. He didn't dare look to see what was going on in the room right now.

"Yeah, well, I'm broadening my horizons, looking for new angels. I'm getting some great 'research' done for my new book," Jiraiya was saying as they came in.

Minato snorted. "I can only imagine, sensei. If I were you, though, I wouldn't conduct any 'research' here. You've earned yourself a bit of a reputation in this village," he told Jiraiya, as he adjusted his chair and sat down. His feet were mere inches away from touching Naruto. He began straightening up his papers.

Naruto gulped. He scooted as far back into the desk as he could, putting himself in a small ball, with his arms wrapped around his knees. _Please don't find me…please don't find me…_ he repeated over and over in his head. Any sudden moves, or if his father moved his feet at all, he would bump Naruto. All he could do was wait and listen.

**SPOILER WARNING!**

Jiraiya cleared his throat. "Well, you know that's not why I came here. Like I told you earlier, I came to see my favorite student, and my godson," he said.

"Flattering as always, sensei, but I'm afraid that Naruto is at school right now," Minato told him. "If you hang around long enough, you can see him after that."

"I wish I could. But I just stopped by for a brief visit, can't stay long. But no matter, I'll pay another visit again later on to see him," Jiraiya answered.

_He has no idea,_ Naruto thought.

"So, tell me. How's fatherhood and being Hokage working out?" Jiraiya asked Minato.

"Well, it's good for the most part," Minato answered. "It can be hard to balance my time sometimes between my schedule and spending time with Naruto. Now that he's at the academy, it's a little better."

"How is Naruto doing in the academy?" Jiraiya asked, curiously. "Is he anything like you were?"

"Well, he only just started. But he's pretty enthusiastic about it. It sure takes me back to my days at the academy. It's hard to believe that my own son is there now," Minato said, smiling.

Jiraiya smiled. "I'm sure that he'll do fine. I bet he'll have loads of talent. You were certainly my most promising student," Jiraiya said, smirking a bit. Minato laughed. They continued to talk and reminisce about old times.

**OVER**

Naruto was getting cramped but he didn't dare move. He was beginning to wonder if his father would ever leave! _Will I be stuck here all day? I know it must be getting close to lunchtime! If we're not back in time…_he shuddered at the thought.

"Since it's been such a long time, sensei, how about joining me for lunch? My treat," Minato finally asked.

"Your treat? Well, I can't pass up an offer like that," Jiraiya said. "Only I'm picking the place. Preferably some place that has sake and women," he added.

Minato sighed and shook his head. "You haven't changed have you, sensei?"

Jiraiya laughed. Minato got up and they walked out of the office. When Naruto heard the door shut and their voices fade away, he was relieved to get out from under the desk. His muscles were cramped from being under there so long, so he stretched a bit. He shivered from his close call. Then, Naruto opened the window and jumped out onto the ledge where Sasuke was still waiting for him.

"We've got to get back quickly. It's fifteen minutes to noon," Sasuke told him.

"Man, that was close," Naruto muttered, as they made their way down the tower and to the roofs below.

"Yeah, too close. You got careless back there. You wandered too far from our only exit, not leaving yourself enough time to escape," Sasuke pointed out.

"Sorry, I guess I forgot the plan," Naruto said sheepishly.

"You barely got under the desk in time. Did you freeze back there or something?" Sasuke asked as they neared the academy.

"Yeah, I guess I did. I guess I just panicked and couldn't think straight. I was too worried about what would happen if we failed," Naruto admitted.

"We got lucky this time, but next time, no slip ups. I have to get a passing grade no matter what," Sasuke told him firmly.

Naruto wondered why Sasuke was so adamant about his grade. He was going to ask him about it, when the bell rang, signaling the end of lunch. They ran to class and sat down, noticing that they were the last ones to return.

"Welcome back, boys. You just made it. I trust your time was productive," Iruka told them. Sasuke and Naruto just nodded, as Iruka started in on the next lesson for the day.

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After school, Naruto and Sasuke talked a little bit about their next move. That wanted to observe Minato doing something else to make their report more exciting. Naruto thought that maybe at the festival something would happen, so they decided to definitely meet up together and keep watch just in case. Kakashi hadn't arrived yet, and Sasuke wanted to ask Naruto about him.

"Naruto?" Sasuke asked him.

"Yeah?" Naruto turned to him.

"Who is the silver-haired jounin that I see you with to and from school?" Sasuke asked.

"What? Oh, you mean Kakashi-san," Naruto said. "It's my tousan's idea. He has this thing where he won't let me be alone unless I'm at school," Naruto said, irritation clear in his voice.

"Really? Sometimes, my nii-san picks me up, but I can go by myself if I want to," Sasuke said.

Naruto sighed. "You're so lucky. My tousan is pretty protective of me. I was really surprised that he even let me do this project without Kakashi-san tagging along. He said it was okay since I was with you. I mean, I know he is trying to lighten up, but he still feels I need some protection right now. It still annoys me though."

"That must be hard, but at least he notices you. I wish I could get my tousan to take more interest in me," Sasuke said a little sadly.

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked, concerned.

"I guess it has to do with my nii-san. He's a genius even among our clan of elites," Sasuke explained.

"Oh, yeah, Tousan told me a little bit about him," Naruto said. "Must be cool to have a brother like that."

"Yes, and no. Tousan is very preoccupied with everything he does, and as a result, doesn't pay much attention to me. If I can be at least as good as my nii-san and get top grades, maybe Tousan will finally notice me," Sasuke said, turning away.

"Wow," Naruto said, feeling for Sasuke. _Seems like we may have more in common than I thought. I want to impress my Tousan too, even if it is for a different reason._

Just then Kakashi appeared next to them. _Wow, Kakashi isn't really that late for once,_ Naruto thought. Turning to Sasuke he gave him a 'see how annoying this can be' look.

Sasuke smiled at him. _Interesting, how he always seems to just show up at the right times._

"Well, see you at the festival, Sasuke," Naruto called as they left.

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The festival the next day was marvelous. There were tons of food, games, and activities. Minato had a hard time containing his son's excitement over everything. It was now getting dark and it was soon time for the fireworks to begin. Naruto met up with Sasuke and they got special seating because of Naruto's father being the Hokage, so they were thrilled that they'd get a good view for the fireworks. Minato gave a speech about the festival, and finished with telling everyone to enjoy the fireworks.

Naruto and Sasuke 'ooohed' and 'awwwed' as they watched the sky light up with various designs and colors. It was really a spectacular sight. All of a sudden, they heard a loud noise, followed by some screaming. Everyone looked around to see what was going on. A jounin suddenly appeared next to Minato. Sasuke and Naruto listened in carefully.

"Hokage-sama! We have an emergency situation. The Konoha hospital is on fire!"

Minato stood up. "Must have been from some stray fireworks." The jounin nodded. "Get all the jounin together who can use water element jutsus and tell them to assemble at the hospital immediately. I'll meet them there," Minato ordered. "And try to keep this quiet. We don't want this crowd panicking."

"Hai," he said and disappeared.

Minato addressed the crowd. "Everyone, there is a situation that has arisen that needs my attention. Please enjoy the rest of the festival." He then turned to Naruto and Sasuke. "I want you two to go home when this is over. I've got this handled," he said and then disappeared.

Naruto and Sasuke exchanged a meaningful glance. "This is our chance, Sasuke! To see Tousan in action! Let's follow along," Naruto said, excitedly.

"Right. But we'll have to be careful not to get too close to the fire, or be seen," Sasuke said as Naruto nodded in agreement.

They got out of their seats and were heading in the direction of the hospital when Kakashi appeared in front of them. "Where are you boys going? he asked casually.

Sasuke grabbed Naruto's arm and turned to avoid hitting Kakashi when he appeared. They now both had their backs to the crowd, facing Kakashi. Sasuke gave a Naruto a very clear look of, 'let me handle this.'

"We…we were going to do school stuff," Sasuke said neutrally, trying to get Kakashi's attention off of Naruto.

"Really?" Kakashi asked, not really believing him.

"Really," Sasuke answered. "Why are you here?" he asked the jounin. "I can't help but notice you seem to know exactly when to show up when it comes to Naruto. Have you been watching us?" Sasuke accused him.

While Kakashi tried to explain his way out of that question, Sasuke gave Naruto a signal to take off into the crowd. It was their only chance to get away from Kakashi. Naruto understood, and slowly walked away into the crowd disappearing, before Kakashi could notice.

"Look…I'm just…" Kakashi started and then noticed that Naruto wasn't there anymore. "Naruto?" he called out. No answer. _He must have gone into the crowd, where it would harder for me to find him. Sasuke was the distraction. Clever of him._ The minute Kakashi took his attention off Sasuke; he too disappeared into the crowd.

Kakashi smiled. He knew where the boys were going…

Meanwhile, Naruto got away from the crowd and headed towards the hospital. He figured that's where Sasuke would head to when he could. He hoped he could get away from the persistent jounin. When Naruto got close to the hospital, he could see the massive blaze. There was smoke pouring out and tremendous heat could be felt even from where Naruto was. He hid behind a tall tree nearby. Soon, Sasuke joined him.

"I see you got away from Kakashi-san," Naruto said, grinning at him.

"Yep," Sasuke said, smiling back.

"Good plan," Naruto told him as they both turned back to look at the blaze. "Some fire, huh?"

"Yeah, it looks pretty bad," Sasuke agreed.

People were running out in all directions to get to safety. Water-type shinobi were working on putting out the blazing inferno. Naruto and Sasuke caught sight of Minato, who was giving directions. Just then what looked like the hospital administrator came up to Minato.

"Hokage-sama! There are four people unaccounted for. We believe they're trapped on the second level," he reported.

Minato nodded and summoned some ANBU over. Giving them some of his custom made kunai, he said, "Scout out the building. There are four people trapped inside. Try to get them out, when you need me, throw these in a safe place, and I'll be able to come right to your location." They bowed and disappeared.

"Naruto, let's climb this tree so we can get a better view," Sasuke suggested. "We'll have good cover also."

"Okay," Naruto agreed as they climbed to the top of the tree. They could see the ANBU inside the building, checking things out. Then they saw two other ANBU carrying out two people that they found. Not long after that, they saw another ANBU throw something down and then jump out the window. Minato suddenly disappeared from his spot.

"Where did he go?" Sasuke asked.

"Inside, look!" Naruto said, pointing to where Minato now stood inside the burning building. "He must have given the ANBU his special kunai," he said.

"Special kunai?" Sasuke repeated.

"Yeah, Tousan told me about them once. He made them himself and it allows him to teleport freely and quickly," Naruto explained.

"Wow! Cool!" Sasuke said, amazed.

Then they both saw Minato jumping out the window, carrying a woman in his arms. He placed her down carefully and called for some med-nin to help her. Disappearing again, and reappearing in the same location as before, Sasuke and Naruto saw Minato perform some hand seals, but couldn't tell what jutsu it was. Minato ran out of the room quickly, leaving Sasuke and Naruto wondering what was happening. They were also getting worried that the fire had not been put yet. It seemed to be taking too long. One side of the building was burned so badly, it was in danger of collapsing.

Suddenly, a huge burst of water flowed out through one of the windows, causing the intensity of the blaze to go down. Naruto and Sasuke were shocked and amazed. They saw Minato running, carrying the last person in his arms. The roof above him began to collapse, but Minato tucked and rolled, using his quick reflexes to avoid it falling on him. Jumping out of the window, Minato got the last person to safety.

Naruto and Sasuke breathed out in relief. "Wow that was close," Naruto said to Sasuke who nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, your tousan is amazing. No wonder he's the Hokage," Sasuke said.

Minato then directed the water-type Shinobi to line up in a different formation to put out the still burning building.

"That's an odd formation," Sasuke said as he and Naruto watched them line up and spray where they were directed, moving around in a distinct direction. After ten minutes of this, the fire was out, and was now only smoldering.

"Your tousan must have figured out the best way to put out the fire while he was inside," Sasuke said to Naruto.

"Yeah, that would explain it," Naruto replied.

Now that the main crisis was over, Minato was talking to a shinobi about the damage.

"It's pretty extensive, Hokage-sama. But we were able to salvage a lot. And everyone is safe, thanks to you," he said to Minato.

"Just doing my job," Minato said, waving it off. "We need to get repairs going immediately."

"Hai!"

Sasuke and Naruto decided they had lingered enough, and it was time to go. They carefully made their way down the tree. As Naruto got to the ground, he stepped on a twig. Not wanting to turn around to see if anyone heard that and saw him, he and Sasuke took off running.

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Naruto spent the rest of the weekend, writing up his report on his findings about the project. He knew that Sasuke would be doing the same. This would be such a cool report. He thought for sure they'd get a good score on it. Iruke-sensei would surely be impressed, as would Minato when he found out.

When Naruto went back to school, he and Sasuke turned in their reports to Iruka. He told the class that they would have their grades by the end of the day. Both boys could hardly wait to see what they got. When Iruka finally passed back the reports, Sasuke and Naruto looked eagerly at what they got: a perfect grade! Sasuke was thrilled. Naruto was very pleased also.

"Well, Sasuke, I guess we make a pretty good team after all," Naruto said, giving him a wide smile.

"Yeah, even despite a few slip ups," Sasuke said giving Naruto a knowing look. Naruto blushed. "But I can't wait to tell Tousan about it," he added, as they headed out. They parted ways once they got outside.

Naruto couldn't wait to tell his father about it also. They did the impossible. Naruto was feeling so happy that he wasn't really paying attention to where he was going. He bumped into something solid and looked up. He was quite surprised when he realized it was his father.

"Tousan? Why are you here?" Naruto asked. His father rarely came to get him. He was usually too busy.

Minato grinned. "Oh, I got done with my work early today, so I thought I'd come personally to take you home," he answered.

"Oh, okay," Naruto said, thinking that to be a little strange. He shrugged it off. "Ne, Tousan, guess what?" he asked Minato, excitedly.

"What?"

"Sasuke and I got a perfect mark for our surveillance project! Isn't that great?" Naruto asked, excitedly.

"Why yes, Naruto, that's fantastic. Congratulations!" Minato told him, his grin even wider. "By the way, did you find anything particularly interesting under my desk?"

Naruto looked up at his father in complete shock. He knew!

**TBC**

**AN: I know that some things in this chapter may seem unrealistic, but it was done that way on purpose, so you don't have to point that out to me. Those of you who may be wondering what happened with Kakashi, I'll leave that up to your imagination. It may be a stretch for the boys to have gotten away from him, but it's possible with a large crowd, lots of noise, etc. Kakashi still is younger than in the anime, and he's still honing his skills in my story. Also, remember the message that Kakashi got from Minato. He knows what they are doing. Now, please hit the review button to your left and tell me what you think! Reviews help an author so much. **


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

**AN: Thanks again for all the reviews and favorites, I'm quite surprised. This chapter is more cannon in nature with the anime, with Sasuke's point of view but with a twist. Also, it's more serious than humorous and more Sasuke/Naruto centered than Minato/Naurto. Thanks go out to MrsHellman and Hotari-chan for beta'ing and helping me out. Still don't own Naruto, k? Enjoy!**

It was hard to believe, but the first term at the academy was over. Today, reports cards were going to be passed out. Naruto was nervous, because he really wanted to get good grades. That would be expected of the Yondaime's son, but even beyond that, Naruto wanted to show his tousan he could get good grades.

Sasuke was also anxious about his grades but for an entirely different reason. His tousan was still so focused on his nii-san, that it was getting beginning to bother Sasuke a lot. Maybe if he got top marks, his father would take notice of him. He was getting tired of living in Itachi's shadow.

When the day was almost over, Iruka handed out everyone's report cards. There were some cheers along with a lot of groans that could be heard throughout the class.

Naruto looked over his very carefully. He was disappointed when he saw that his grades were average compared to the rest of the class. _Oh no! This is awful! What will Tousan think?_ He thought. He looked over at Sasuke, who had a shy smile on his face.

"What did you get, Sasuke?" Naruto asked him.

"I got the top marks out of the whole class," Sasuke told him. "Now, Tousan will have to notice me."

Naruto couldn't help but feel a little jealous of his friend. Here he was, the Yondaime's son, and he could only get average grades.

"What did you get, Naruto?" Sasuke asked him.

Naruto looked away for a moment before answering. "Just average," he finally said.

Sasuke could tell Naruto felt bad. "Hey, it's only first term. I bet you'll continue to do better," he said, trying to sound encouraging.

Naruto secretly hoped so. What if Sasuke didn't want to be his friend anymore because Naruto didn't get as good of grades as him? He might start to think that Naruto was a loser. He was really enjoying Sasuke's friendship.

As they walked outside to head home, Sasuke waved and left quickly for home. Naruto didn't wait long until Kakashi came to get him. The jounin noticed that Naruto was unusually quiet on the way to Hokage tower.

He kept thinking about his grades. He had to show his father his report card. Every parent had to sign the card and it then it had to be returned to school. What would his father think? Would he be angry, sad, disappointed? _Maybe I'll never become a good ninja. Maybe my dream of becoming Hokage will never come true, _Naruto thought. He was so deep in thought that he didn't realize he was at his father's office.

"Uh, Naruto?" Kakashi called to him. Naruto looked up at him. "We're here."

Naruto looked and saw that they were outside his father's door. "Oh, right. Um, thanks Kakashi-san. See you," he said, as Kakashi left.

He looked at the door to his father's office. His heart was pounding. He slowly opened the door and went inside, seeing his father working at his desk.

Minato looked up and saw Naruto come in. "Ah, hello, son. How was school today?"

"Um, it was fine," Naruto answered, wanting to wait as long as possible to show his report card to his father. "You seem pretty busy, so I'll just work on school stuff."

"I can take a break," Minato said, smiling at him. Naruto paled. "Speaking of school, weren't you supposed to get your report card today?" he asked.

Naruto sweat dropped. "Uh, well, yeah, we…we did," he said nervously.

Minato had a concerned look on his face. He could tell Naruto was nervous. "Well, let's see it. I'm eager to see how you did," he told Naruto.

Naruto slowly and reluctantly pulled the card from his school bag and walked over to Minato looking like he was about to be executed. He handed the card to his father and closed his eyes, waiting for his father's reaction.

Minato noticed Naruto's actions and was worried. What would cause all of this? He looked over the report card. He saw that his son received average grades in everything. At the bottom, Iruka wrote this statement:

_Naruto is a good student. He works hard at everything, is extremely motivated and earnest. He's just a little awkward at some things, but he shows a lot of promise. He just needs more practice_.

Minato looked up at Naruto, seeing that he had his eyes closed and was bracing himself for some kind of negative reaction. Minato sighed.

"Naruto, you can open your eyes," Minato told him. Naruto slowly opened his eyes. He saw the serious look on his father's face and starting talking very quickly.

"I'm-sorry-Tousan-I'll-do-better-next-time-I promise-I-know-I'm-such-a-disappointment-to-you-and-" Minato stopped him with his hand.

"Woah, slow down, Naruto. Take a deep breath. It's okay," Minato told him. "Why are you so upset about this?"

Naruto looked away from him. "Well, I…it's just that…I was afraid you'd be disappointed in me, or even mad because I didn't get top grades," he said sadly.

"Is that what this was all about?" Minato asked Naruto. He nodded slowly.

"Come here, son," Minato called to him. Naruto came over, as Minato put his arms around him and hugged him. "Listen to me very carefully, okay?" he asked him and felt Naruto nodding into his chest. "I will always be proud of you, no matter what kind of grades you get. That doesn't matter to me, and it doesn't indicate what kind of shinobi you'll turn out to be."

"Really, Tousan?" Naruto asked, looking up at his father, with tears in his eyes.

Minato felt his heartstrings being pulled at the sight of his son. "Really," he assured him, placing his head on top of Naruto's. "I'll let you in on a little secret. I didn't get top grades my first year, either."

"You didn't?" Naruto asked, surprised.

"Nope. But as time went on, I got better and better, and now look at me. I'm the Hokage," Minato grinned at him.

"Demo, Tousan…Sasuke got the highest grades in the whole class. And I'm…I'm your son. Shouldn't I get top grades too?" Naruto asked in a quiet voice.

Minato thought about how best to answer that question. No doubt there were a lot of unfair expectations put on Naruto because of being the Hokage's son by teachers and students alike. That would be hard for anyone, but Naruto was very sensitive about things like that, and so he must have thought that Minato would have the same expectations. Truth be told, Minato had been severely lacking in Naruto's education regarding shinobi ways. He had taught him some things, but his fearful, overprotective side kicked in, resulting in Naruto being a little behind. That would have to change, as Minato was realizing.

"Naruto, listen. I haven't been the best about teaching you things that you should already know before going to school. I let my fatherly, protective side get in the way of that, and I'm sorry," Minato told him, with sadness in his voice. Naruto looked up at him, surprised to hear his father admit that. He went on. "I'm going to change that, and be much more hands-on with your training," he told him, smiling.

"You mean it?" Naruto asked, excitedly.

"I promise," Minato answered.

"That will be great! Then I can do even better than Sasuke," Naruto boasted.

Minato laughed at his son. "Oh, I bet you can," he told him, ruffling his hair.

Naruto felt much better, until a loud rumble was heard. He blushed and put his hands over his stomach. "Gomen," he said.

Minato smiled at him. "Hungry, huh? Well, let's go home and get some dinner, shall we?"

"Hai!" Naruto answered, feeling happy that his father was so supportive of him. He was determined to work even harder than before. He'd catch up to Sasuke and go beyond. With his father teaching him, he knew he could do it. He could become Hokage. He just knew it.

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The next day at school during break time, Naruto was eager to ask Sasuke how things went with his father. Sasuke had been pretty quiet.

"Ne, Sasuke? How did your tousan like your grades?" he asked him.

Sasuke looked down. "Not too good. All he said was, 'Continue like this and become a fine shinobi like Itachi.' What I wanted him to say was, 'as to be expected of my son.' All he ever does is tell me to become like Itachi," he said bitterly.

"Gosh, I'm sorry Sasuke. That must be really hard," Naruto said, seriously.

"Yeah. Nii-san just recently joined ANBU and Tousan seems more preoccupied with him than ever," Sasuke replied. "I just have to catch up with nii-san. It's the only way Tousan will notice me. After school, I'm going to do some shuriken practice. We have a great place set up where nii-san and I practice."

"Cool! I need to do that too. How about practicing together?" Naruto asked.

"Sure. But won't you have to ask your tousan first?" Sasuke asked.

"Hmm, yeah, I'll need to. Maybe we can arrange it for when we have our days off?" Naruto suggested.

"That would be good," Sasuke agreed.

"I'll let you know when I talk to him today," Naruto said, as the bell signaled the end of break time.

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Minato was working in his office, when he heard a knock at the door. "Come in," he called.

Three members of the Uchiha police squad came in. "Hokage-sama," one of them said, bowing.

"What can I do for you?" Minato asked.

"There has been an apparent suicide." Minato raised a brow at this. The man went on. "We found this note by the river. The handwriting appears to be that of Uchiha Shisui, but it could have been easily copied by the Sharingan," the man said, handing the note to Minato, who began to read it.

"We know that he was friends with Uchiha Itachi. They were like brothers, really. Both were supposed to attend an important meeting last night, and neither of them showed up. We found Shisui's body in the river along with that note. He was Uchiha's best worker, and known as the man to be feared as the Shisui of Shurushin. He was a man who would be first in line to do any missions for our clan. It's hard to think that such a man would write that and then kill himself," another man explained.

Minato frowned. The circumstances were suspicious. "So are you concerned that this may have been a murder?" he asked them.

"That is a good possibility, Hokage-sama. With your permission, would like to talk with Itachi about it," another man said.

"You suspect him then," Minato stated. Come to think of it, Itachi had recently become a part of ANBU. Minato then remembered that he had noticed that Itachi had been acting a bit strange lately.

"Hai," they answered.

"Very well, use caution though. You cannot arrest him without concrete proof or a warrant," Minato said.

"Hai, Hokage-sama."

"Keep me posted of the situation," Minato told them. They nodded and left. He frowned again and leaned back in his chair. Perhaps Itachi's excellence and excelling in everything was getting to him. Power can make people become isolated and eventually arrogant. Minato took out his files that contained all the information about the ANBU squad. He began to look through Itachi's file.

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When the day was over, and Naruto and Minato were eating dinner, Naruto asked his question.

"Tousan?" he asked.

"Yes, Naruto?" Minato looked over at him.

"I was wondering if Sasuke and I could do some shuriken practice after school. He has a great training area all set up," Naruto told Minato.

Minato was concerned about Naruto being close to Itachi right now. If he was becoming unstable, who knows what could happen. "I would rather you boys practice here," he said to Naruto.

"Why?" Naruto asked.

Minato didn't want his son to worry about the situation, so he said, "Well, I could help you two out. You know give you some tips and everything," he said, giving Naruto a wide grin.

"Well, that would be great!" Naruto gushed. "I can't wait to tell Sasuke!"

Minato was too distracted to notice his son's excitement. He was preoccupied with Itachi. He wanted the situation with him to be resolved quickly. He just didn't have a good feeling about it.

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The day came for the boys to practice together. Naruto was very excited. It was the first time Sasuke would see his house. He heard a knock at the door and ran to open it. Sasuke was there, looking a little glum.

"Come in Sasuke," Naruto practically yelled, dragging his friend inside.

"Naruto! I can walk by myself," Sasuke chided him.

"Sorry," Naruto said sheepishly. "Tousan said to get started without him. He had some stuff to take care of, but he'll be out to join us soon," he told Sasuke.

The boys took turns throwing the shuriken at some targets they set up. Sasuke's aim was noticeably off.

"Sasuke? Are you alright?" Naruto asked with concern as Sasuke missed again, cursing himself.

"Not really," Sasuke answered honestly.

"What's wrong?" Naruto probed.

"Well, the other day some men from the police force came to talk to Nii-san . Something about his friend committing suicide only they don't believe he did. They suspect Nii-san did it. Nii-san got angry and beat them up. Nii-san started talking crazy when Tousan showed up. He told Nii-san to stop and he spouted off some more strange things. He even threw a kunai knife at the family crest on the wall. I think Tousan was getting worried. The police wanted to arrest him. I got scared, so I told Nii-san to stop it. Then he bowed to the ground and asked for forgiveness for what he had said. Tousan thought Nii-san was just overworked with ANBU missions. He told the others he would look after Nii-san. As he walked passed Nii-san , the strangest thing happened." Sasuke paused here.

"What was it?" Naruto prodded.

"Nii-san's sharingan formed an odd shape that I've never seen before. It didn't look good though," Sasuke said, remembering the look in his brother's eye. "There's a lot of tension at home now between Tousan and Nii-san . I'm getting worried," he finished.

"I'm sorry, Sasuke," Naruto told him. "That does sound really strange. I can see why you're concerned. We can stop practicing if you want," he offered.

"No. I need to keep training. I have to be just as good as Nii-san if not better," Sasuke said, adamantly, as he picked up another shuriken and threw it. "I've seen Nii-san be able to hit 6 targets dead on, from mid-air, with two targets behind a rock. I want to be able to do the same move," he continued, as he threw some more.

Naruto watched Sasuke with growing concern. Sasuke was really obsessed with becoming as good as his brother. He understood why to a degree, but he was starting to get worried that Sasuke was getting carried away. He decided not to voice his concerns for now. Minato joined them shortly after and gave them some tips, showing them how to aim and hit the center of the target. Both Sasuke and Naruto were impressed with Minato's abilities. Minato watched Sasuke carefully as he saw the young Uchiha's determination to do things perfectly.

_I hope I can be like Tousan, one day,_ Naruto thought to himself.

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A week had gone by since Naruto had seen Sasuke. Naruto was beginning to wonder what was going on with Sasuke. When they finally saw each other, Sasuke was very excited about something.

"Naruto! Guess what?" Sasuke said happily.

"What?" Naruto replied, curious as to why the normally calm Sasuke would be so excited.

"Tousan finally noticed me. He showed me the family's special jutsu. It's called the Katon: Gaukakyuu no Jutsu." At Naruto's confused expression, Sasuke explained. "It's a giant fireball technique. At first I couldn't do it, I had to practice for week. But then, I was able to finally do it right. I showed it to Tousan yesterday. You know what he said?" he asked Naruto.

"Not until you tell me," Naruto said, smartly.

Sasuke looked annoyingly at him, but when on. "He told me, 'As expected of my son.' He has finally acknowledged me for who I am, and not comparing me to Nii-san . I've been hoping this day would come. I think he was really surprised that I was able to master the jutsu in a week, because at first, he thought I was too young."

"That's great, Sasuke!" Naruto said. Though secretly, he felt jealousy creeping up again. He was going to have to talk to his father about teaching him a new jutsu. "Tousan told me that he's going to start overseeing my training more. I think he's starting to finally let go a little."

"That's good," Sasuke replied. He hesitated for a moment before continuing. "Tousan did tell me one thing that was strange though." Naruto looked over at Sasuke when he said that. "He told me not to chase after Nii-san anymore. I'm not really sure what he meant by that."

Naruto looked concerned. "Is everything alright at home?" he asked.

"I guess so. I talked with Kaasan a little and that was reassuring, but Tousan and Nii-san still seem tense with each other. And Nii-san has been…very distant lately. He really hasn't been himself since that day he got accused of killing Shisui-san," Sasuke said, seriously.

Naruto didn't want Sasuke to feel down, so he changed the mood. "Ne, Sasuke?" he asked with a mischievous grin on his face.

"Hmm?"

"Want to spar? Bet I can kick your ass!" Naruto boasted.

Sasuke blinked. He wouldn't back down from a challenge. "You're on, dobe," Sasuke teased back.

"What? Dobe?! Just for that, I won't hold back, Sasuke!" Naruto yelled, charging at him. Sasuke smiled and was ready for Naruto. He easily dodged Naruto's impulsive attack. That didn't dampen the blonde's spirit though. They kept at it until it was about dinnertime. They started off evenly matched, but in the end, Sasuke won.

"You're…not…bad…" Sasuke panted as they were now sitting down resting.

"You're pretty…good…yourself," Naruto said, also panting heavily. _I've got a lot of work to do, if I want to keep up with him, and surpass him,_ he thought.

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Minato was in his office, reading over some reports. These ones in particular were about some recent ANBU missions. He frowned as he read over some information regarding Uchiha Itachi. It seemed that the young man's behavior was still in question. After some clan members had confronted Itachi about Shisui's death, they had reported back to Minato about his strange behavior; how he had attacked them, rambled on about worthlessness of the clan, and being disrespectful to his own father. His concern was growing, the more bad reports he got about Itachi. Perhaps it was time to talk to Fugaku about his son.

When Minato arrived at the Uchiha compound, he knocked on the door. Mikoto answered it.

"Hokage-sama!" she said, surprised. "Please come in," she gestured at him to enter.

"Thank you. I'm sorry to intrude, but is Fugaku-san home?" Minato asked.

"Yes, he is. I'll get him for you," Mikoto answered. "Please make yourself comfortable," she said as she left.

Minato looked around the room a bit. It was nicely decorated, but nothing too fancy. Just then, Fugaku came into the room.

"Hokage-sama," he said giving him a slight bow. Minato looked over at him. "What can I do for you?"

"Fugaku-san, I'm sorry to intrude, but I came to talk to you about your son, Itachi," Minato began carefully.

"What about him?" Fugaku asked.

"I've been getting a lot of strange reports about him from the ANBU and other of your clan members," Minato went on. "I have also personally observed him, since as you know, ANBU report directly to me, and I, too, have noticed strange behavior. I was wondering if there was anything you could fill me in on that might help?"

"I appreciate your concern, Hokage-sama. I have noticed some odd behavior as well, but I attribute it to the fact that Itachi is overworked with ANBU missions."

"I see," Minato said, neutrally. "Power can make one arrogant and isolated, you know," he added. "I really think that Itachi may be getting unstable mentally."

"I am personally looking after him, I assure you," Fugaku said, firmly.

Minato realized that he wasn't getting anywhere with Fugaku. He was too close to the situation to see the danger. "Very well. But I am keeping abreast of the situation. If things don't change with him, I will step in," he said.

"I understand, Hokage-sama," Fugaku answered.

"Thank you for your time," Minato said as he turned away and headed out. When he got near the house, he saw Sasuke and Naruto sitting under a tree talking. Minato felt bad; he hadn't been able to work as much with Naruto because of this whole Itachi situation. Sasuke…maybe he could give Minato some more answers. He walked up to the boys.

"Hello, boys," Minato said, smiling, as they both looked up at him.

"Hokage-sama!" Sasuke said, standing up.

"Tousan! Where have you been?! You're supposed to be overseeing my training!" Naruto accused, pointing his finger at Minato.

Minato put up in hands in defense. "I'm really sorry, Naruto. I've been really busy with work." Naruto huffed and turned away. "I'll make it up to you soon, okay?" he asked, ruffling his son's hair.

"I'm going to hold you to that," Naruto told him.

Minato smiled. "Sasuke, I was wondering if I could ask you a few questions about your nii-san?" he asked the young Uchiha.

"Nii-san?" Sasuke asked, hesitantly. Naruto wondered why his father was asking about him too.

"Yes. Anything you can tell me about him would be very helpful," Minato told him.

"Is he in trouble?" Sasuke asked, nervously.

"No, but there are some things that I am concerned about, and I think you may be able to help me," Minato said, carefully, not wanting to reveal his thoughts just yet. "Will you do that?"

Sasuke seemed to be thinking it over. Finally he nodded his head.

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When Minato was putting Naruto to bed, he asked him, "Tousan? What was that all about with Sasuke and Itachi-san?"

Minato smiled. "I don't want you to worry, Naruto, but there are some concerns that I have about Itachi. Remember what I told you about him?" Naruto nodded.

"Well, sometimes, when a people are gifted like Itachi is, it can begin to corrupt them if they don't find a good outlet for their abilities. It can make them isolated and arrogant," Minato explained.

Naruto seemed deep in thought for few minutes. "Yeah, Sasuke seems worried about him too. I hope everything will be okay," he said.

Minato kissed the top of his son's head. "Me too. I'm keeping tabs on the situation, okay?" Naruto yawned. "Good night, son."

"'Night, Tousan," Naruto said, sleepily. Minato got up, turned off the light and with once last look at his son, closed the door.

He went downstairs and decided to make some tea. When he went to get the cup however, it cracked. _That's a bad omen,_ Minato thought as he looked at the cracked cup. Just then, there was a knock at the front door. Minato went to answer it. It was member of the Uchiha police force.

"Hokage-sama! Pardon the interruption," he began frantically.

Minato waved it off. "It's okay, please continue," he told him.

"We have an emergency situation. We've discovered our clansmen are being murdered at a rapid rate. We don't know who's doing it, but…"

Suddenly, it all clicked for Minato. He knew who it was, and he knew that the murderer wouldn't stop there. "Where did this occur?" he interrupted him.

"At the east side of the district," the man told him.

"Alright, I'm on it. Get all your forces together and meet me there as soon as possible," he told the man. He then signaled to some nearby ANBU. "I need two of you to watch over Naruto. You two will meet me in the east district," they bowed and nodded. Minato quickly made some hand seals and then seemingly disappeared.

When Minato arrived at the location, he saw movement in the shadows. Then he heard someone screaming. Minato dashed to the sound of scream just in time to see an ANBU in a mask, preparing to kill. Minato quickly teleported behind him, grabbing him in a secure hold, with a kunai at his throat.

"That's as far as you go, Uchiha Itachi," Minato said, in a deadly voice. He pushed Itachi to the ground, knocking his mask off and pinning his arms to his back, sat on him to hold him firmly in place, keeping the kunai at his throat. The couple that was about to be killed got up and scrambled away.

"Yondaime-sama. You figured it out then?" Itachi asked in an emotionless tone.

"Yes, I did. Your killing spree ends here," Minato told him firmly. Just then the police and ANBU showed up. "I can't believe you would sink so low and betray your clan and your village like this," Minato continued so everyone would hear. "You were going to kill them all, weren't you?" It wasn't a question.

Itachi remained silent.

Minato shook his head in disgust. "Consider yourself under arrest. You're going to prison. You'll be lucky if that's all you get," Minato continued in a harsh tone. He nodded to the group standing nearby, who proceeded to arrest Itachi. "Bind him tight, and put a blindfold on him. We don't want him using the Sharingan," Minato instructed. "I also want in interrogated." They nodded and took him away.

As Minato watched him go, he knew had one more thing left to do. He had to tell Itachi's family. That wasn't going to be easy…

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When Minato had arrived at Fugaku and Mikoto's house, he had them sit down. They had very confused looks on their faces. Sasuke was in bed.

"I'm afraid I have some bad news for you," Minato began, knowing this wasn't going to be easy to say. Taking a deep breath, he went on. Your son, Itachi, has been arrested tonight…" Fugaku and Mikoto looked shocked, "…for murder."

"What?" Fugaku shouted. "No, it can't be true."

"I'm afraid it is true, as I caught him myself about to kill a young Uchiha couple. I just gotten a report that your clansmen were being killed rapidly, so I went right away and that's went I caught him," Minato explained. Mikoto started crying. "He's being taken to prison and will be undergoing interrogation. It's my belief that he killed Shisui also," Minato continued.

"What will happen to him?" Fugaku asked.

"At the very least, he'll remain in prison for life. I believe his intent was to wipe out the entire Uchiha clan, but I won't know for sure until I get the results of the interrogation," Minato told him.

"The entire clan?" Fugaku repeated. "Us too? Even Sasuke?" he asked in disbelief.

"I don't know for sure, but it's a good possibility," Minato answered honestly. "Right now, he's very dangerous and unstable." Minato hesitated for a moment before going on. "It's likely you'll never see him again. At these words, Mikoto cried even harder. "I'm truly sorry," Minato added. "I must go, but I'll keep you informed." With that, he left, leaving the two Uchiha's to process, and grieve.

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The next day was a hard one. Sasuke had been informed about what had happened and was in complete shock. He was taking it pretty hard. There had been a funeral for the Uchiha members that had been killed. Minato had also informed Naruto about the situation as well. Naruto had attended the funeral with Minato and when it was over, went over to talk to Sasuke.

"Ne, Sasuke? How are you guys holding up?" he asked his friend.

Sasuke looked very downcast. "Not very well. Kaasan cries a lot, Tousan seems distant. And me…I can't believe Nii-san would do something like this," he said in an emotionless tone. "Your tousan told us that after the interrogation, he found out that Nii-san did kill Shusui-san, his best friend, and was going to kill everyone in the clan but me," Sasuke went on.

Naruto looked confused. "Everyone but you? Why?"

"His intent was to 'measure his container' as he put it. He was fed up with the clan. As for me, he was going to leave me alive to be the 'one to overcome him', whatever that means. I just don't understand any of it," Sasuke said, bitterly.

"I'm really sorry, Sasuke," Naruto said, very sincerely. "Is there anything I can do?"

Sasuke shook his head. "No, but thank you for your offer. I guess it's just going to take time…to heal," he told his friend honestly. "My illusions I had of Nii-san have been shattered. It was all a lie…" Sasuke couldn't go on. He turned away, not wanting Naruto to see him crying.

Naruto didn't know what to say or do for Sasuke. He knew he was crying. He didn't want to make him feel bad for that. "Hey, it's okay to cry, Sasuke," he told the other boy, who was trying to dry his 'tears'.

"Who's crying? I've got something in my eye!" Sasuke said, defensively. Just then his parents called to him.

"Time to go, Sasuke," his father said.

Sasuke turned back to Naruto. "I've got to go," he said, and ran off towards his parents.

Naruto watch him go, feeling very sad for his friend. He hoped Sasuke would make it through this. He wondered if things would ever be the same.

**TBC**

**AN: The next chapter will contain a time skip, just FYI. I am drawing this story to a close in the next three chapters. Sorry to those of you who wanted to see a fight scene with Itachi and Minato, but I really can't write those very well, so I did the best I could with it. Hit the review button and let me know you're out there, k? Reviews make an author's world go 'round!**


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

**AN: Thanks again for all the reviews! I am truly honored. Remember there is a timeskip for this chapter. Thanks goes out to MrsHellman and Hotari-chan for betaing. I hope that you all like it. As always, I don't own Naruto, k? Enjoy!**

Three years had passed since Naruto started class at the academy. He was now ten years old. He had grown a lot during that time due to a couple of factors. One, he had learned a tremendous amount at the academy. Two, Minato was very involved in Naruto's training, which helped to improve his grades.

Sasuke and his parents had recovered from their ordeal with Itachi, who was still in prison. Sasuke's father was now very involved with Sasuke's training and they had become pretty close. His parents rarely spoke about Itachi these days. Sasuke and Naruto's friendship had grown stronger over the years as well. Naruto still couldn't achieve Sasuke's perfect grades. This made Naruto jealous, and he was always in some sort of "friendly" competition with the Uchiha, which motivated him to keep getting stronger. They would train together often, and as a result, had formed a close bond.

Sakura was always trying to hang around Naruto and Sasuke too, much to Sasuke's annoyance, and Naruto was just plain clueless. Hyuuga Hinata would secretly watch Naruto from afar. She liked him very much also, but was just too shy to speak with him.

Minato had also been true to his word, allowing Naruto more freedom, as he got older. He could now move about the village freely, going to and from school on his own. All, in all, things were going really well for Naruto, except for one thing: Everyone just saw him as the son of the hokage. No one really recognized him as an individual. This made him really desire the title of Hokage. In the meantime though, Naruto busied himself in working hard to make everyone recognize him as a separate individual. Sometimes, this would involve Naruto seeking attention in the wrong way. He had become very efficient at executing the henge technique along with the replacement technique. Naruto liked the henge a little too much however. And one day, he got carried away with it.

Naruto was in his father's office that day, waiting for him to finish his work, so they could train together. Minato trained with Naruto almost every day, and Naruto always looked forward to it. Today, however, it seemed like his father would never get finished.

Naruto sighed for the tenth time. "How much longer, Tousan?" he complained loudly. He would ask this about every thirty minutes, which was beginning to grate on Minato's nerves. "I want to train!"

"Not much longer," Minato would always tell him every time Naruto would ask. Naruto sighed again, in complete frustration.

Just then, they heard a knock on the door. "Come in," Minato called.

"Hokage-sama, it's time for the conference meeting," he said.

Minato hit his head with his hand. "Oh, shoot! I forgot all about that. Thanks! I'll be right there." The man bowed and left. To Naruto, Minato said, "I'm sorry, Naruto. I forgot about this meeting. We'll train as soon as I'm done, okay?"

Naruto huffed and crossed his arms. "How long will that take?" he asked, impatiently.

"Hopefully, not too long," Minato said with a grin. "You can hang out here if you like, or you can go home if you prefer." With that, he left.

"This sucks," Naruto said out loud after Minato left. "I want Tousan to show me a new jutsu!" he yelled angrily. He got up and walked over to Minato's desk. He sat in his father's chair and pulled up to the desk. Minato would sometimes let Naruto sit in the chair, and Naruto would pretend he was Hokage.

"Henge!" he shouted as he transformed into the perfect copy of Minato. Naruto would often transform into his father for fun. As soon as Minato caught him doing it, however, he would put a stop to it immediately, lecturing him that him he shouldn't do that, people could get confused, and that's not what it was used for.

"I could do this job easily," Naruto said to himself as he looked over his father's paperwork. He looked over the mission assignments. "I mean, how hard can it be to do paperwork and assign missions?"

Just then, he heard a knock on the door. _Hmm…who could that be? Someone who must not know that Tousan isn't here right now…which means… _

"Come in," Naruto called. It was a jounin. Naruto didn't recognize him.

"Hokage-sama, I came for my assignment," he told Naruto.

_He doesn't know it's me,_ Naruto thought. He grinned. _Now's my chance. I can have some fun with this!_

"Ah, yes," Naruto said, looking over the missions. He picked out a D-rank mission. "Here's your mission," he said, handing the jounin the assignment.

The man looked over the assignment with a puzzled look on his face. "Are you sure about this?" he asked Naruto.

"Of course I am," Naruto answered. "Don't question the hokage!"

"Gomen-nasai," he said, bowing and left.

Naruto laughed when he was gone. "This is too much fun!"

During the rest of the time Minato was in his meeting, Naruto was either calling ninja in and assigning them menial missions, and when ninja would come in to ask for new missions, Naruto would assign them C or D rank missions that they would hate.

Naruto suddenly heard the sound of his father's voice outside the door. He quickly changed back to himself, just before Minato walked in.

"Hi, Tousan!" Naruto greeted him with a grin. "How was your meeting?"

"It was fine, I guess. Sorry it took so long," Minato said as he came in. "Did you keep busy?"

"I sure did," Naruto replied. He got up from Minato's desk.

"I just have a few things to wrap up here, and then we can train," Minato told him.

"Ah, well, I decided to go home and wait, do some training on my own, you know," Naruto laughed, nervously. "I'll see you later!" he said, as he left quickly. He didn't want his father to find out what he had been doing...just yet.

"Um…see you then," Minato called as he watched his son leave. He shook his head. Naruto could be so hard to figure out sometimes. One minute, he could be angry and pouting, and the next, he would be happy. He sighed.

Minato then sat down at his desk. He noticed that the assignment pile of papers had gotten smaller. _What the heck? _He thought. _I know I didn't assign that many missions today. _His thoughts were interrupted by a knock at the door. "Come in," he called.

The first jounin that Naruto had given an assignment to came back to give his report. "I completed the assignment you gave me," he said, coming up to hand Minato his report.

"But I didn't assign you anything," Minato replied, puzzled.

It was the jounin's turn to look puzzled. "But you did. I came in here about three hours ago and you gave me this assignment."

"I was in a meeting three hours ago," Minato said. Then it dawned on him. Naruto! He must have used henge to transform into Minato and did this! "I think I understand what happened," he told him. But before he got a chance to explain it, another ninja came into report to him. Soon, Minato was swapped with people who had been given the wrong missions and flooded with reports or complaints.

"NARUTO!" Minato yelled so loudly the men in the room covered their ears.

Back at the Hokage residence, Naruto sneezed. Then he grinned.

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When Minato finally got home, he gave a stern lecture to Naruto about the stunt he had pulled.

"Naruto, how many times I have told you not to impersonate me?" Minato asked him firmly.

"Um, I've lost count, Tousan," Naruto replied.

"Too many then. You could have caused a lot of damage with what you did," Minato lectured.

"Relax, Tousan," Naruto answered casually. "It was only D-rank missions."

"That's not the point. Missions are ranked for a reason. Jounin should not be doing D-ranked missions, when they are supposed to be doing B, A and even S-rank missions," Minato told Naruto. "As a result of trying to sort out this mess, I have to do extra work now, so we can't train," he went on.

"What? No way!" Naruto protested loudly.

"You only have yourself to blame this time, Naruto. Maybe you'll think twice about doing something like this again," Minato told him resolutely.

Naruto folded his arms and pouted. "Can't take joke," he muttered, under his breath.

"I heard that!"

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At the academy, they were learning how to do the clone replication technique. So far, everyone could produce at least one clone and most could produce two. When it came Naruto's turn, however, he couldn't replicate a functional clone, no matter how hard he tried.

As he was headed outside, talking with Sasuke, he overheard some kids talking from behind them.

"Can you believe that? The Yondaime's son, not being able to produce even one clone?"

"I know. It's really pathetic."

Naruto clenched his fist. Sasuke noticed his friend's action. "Just ignore them, Naruto."

"How can I, Sasuke? They're right! Everyone can do it but me!" Naruto said, angrily.

"Give it some time, Naruto. You'll get it," Sasuke said, trying to be encouraging.

"Easy for you to say. You ace everything," Naruto replied, bitterly. "Everyone has these expectations on me to do well, just because I'm the son of the hokage. It's so unfair!"

"You're right, Naruto. I'm really sorry," Sasuke replied, seriously.

Naruto sighed and ran a hand through his unruly hair. "It's okay. I'm sorry I snapped at you. I just get so frustrated sometimes," he said.

"I understand. Want to train this weekend?" Sasuke asked him, glad that the blonde was feeling better.

"Sure thing! Your place or mine?" Naruto asked.

"Let's do mine," Sasuke answered. "Come over in the morning."

"Okay. See you then!" Naruto said, as they parted ways. _Sasuke really is a good friend. He sees me as an individual. He doesn't look down on me either, just because I'm not an 'A' student like him._

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When Naruto got home, he started training. He was determined to get stronger and be just as good as Sasuke. He wasn't a quitter and wouldn't give up.

By the time Minato got home, it was dark and Naruto was still training. Minato saw he wasn't in the house, and found him outside. He observed him silently for a minute or two. He saw that Naruto was practicing the clone replication technique, and failing miserably.

"Darn it!" Naruto shouted, as he failed yet again, unaware of Minato's presence. "Why can't I get this right?"

Minato sighed. He knew why Naruto was having trouble, and that this would happen sooner or later. He had put off the conversation long enough. He would have to tell Naruto about _it._

"Hey, there, son," Minato called, announcing his presence.

Naruto turned around and saw his father walking towards him.

"Having some trouble?" Minato asked him.

"Yeah, you could say that," Naruto answered. "I don't know why I can't produce one single clone!" he said, clearly frustrated.

"I know why you're having trouble, Naruto," Minato said, shifting a bit and looking uncomfortable.

"You do?" Naruto asked, confused.

"Y-yes. There is something that I need to tell you," Minato began, rubbing the back of his head. "I've been waiting for the right time to talk to you about it." He took a deep breath before continuing. "You may feel angry that I didn't tell you sooner, but now I think is the right time."

Naruto frowned and looked confusedly at his father. _What is bothering Tousan so much?_ "Tell me what, Tousan?"

Minato sighed deeply. "Do you remember hearing about the Kyuubi no Yoko that appeared and attacked the village ten years ago?" he asked.

"Yeah. The Sandaime saved the village from it, didn't he?" Naruto asked.

"Yes, he did. But what you don't know, is how," Minato said, sadly.

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked, feeling a bit nervous.

"Let me take you back to that day," Minato began. "I think you will understand it better."

_Flashback_

_The Kyuubi no Yoko had suddenly appeared. It was rapidly killing off shinobi left and right. No one could stand up to it._

_"We have to hold it off until the Yondaime arrives!" one shinobi called out as they mounted another attack on the Kyuubi._

_Minato was in the hospital at that moment. His son had just been born. His name was Namikaze Naruto, but his Kushina, had just died. Minato was still in shock, when Sarutobi came in._

_"I'm sorry to interrupt, Minato, but the kyuubi…it's attacking the village and…"_

_Minato gave his son to a nurse and walked over to the window. He could see the kyuubi from there. He frowned. There was something about this that didn't seem right…_

_"Minato! You have to act now before it reaches the village!" Sarutobi said, shaking Minato from his thoughts._

_Minato sighed. He looked over at his newborn son, who was crying in the nurse's arms. Yes, there was one way to stop it. It was his duty as Hokage to protect the village._

_"I'm going to perform the Shiki Fuujin," Minato announced to Sarutobi._

_"What? But that will mean…?" Sarutobi trailed off._

_"I know. But there is no other way," Minato said gravely. "I have a plan. I'm going to seal the Yin chakra with the Shiki Fuujin and the Yang into…Naruto," he finished._

_"Nani?! Why?" Sarutobi asked in disbelief. Why would any father want to seal that monster into his own child?_

_"Because, Naruto is no ordinary child. He has my potential, I can tell. I know I can entrust Kyuubi's power to him. I believe he'll become a powerful shinobi one day and use its power to protect this village, as I have done," Minato explained._

_"But…your son…what will happen to him?" Sarutobi asked._

_"I want him to viewed as a hero of this village," Minato said, firmly. He then walked over to where the nurse was holding his still crying newborn son. He took Naruto into to arms and hugged him. Tears were streaming down Minato's face. "I love you," he whispered. Naruto had stopped crying. It was if he knew his father was holding him._

_As Sarutobi watched the scene before him, he knew in his heart, he couldn't let Minato go through with this. _

_"Wait! I can't let you do this," Sarutobi said, suddenly._

_"What do mean?" Minato asked, looking up at him._

_Sarutobi sighed. "I too, can perform this jutsu. If you really believe in Naruto this much, I will seal the Kyuubi into him as you wish. But this way, you can live with your son, and raise him. I am old, I've lived my life."_

_"But, what about your son?" Minato protested._

_"He will understand. He is grown now. I'm retired and I really have no desire to become Hokage again, which is what would happen if you go through with this. Besides, I strongly feel that your son needs you, Minato. This village needs you," Sarutobi said, firmly. _

_Minato looked reluctantly into Sarutobi's eyes. "I…I…don't know what to say. I feel I'm failing in my duty as Hokage."_

_"No. You are fulfilling it in a different way. The result will be the same. You need to be with your son. You will need to be there…to explain this…" here he pointed at Kyuubi, "…to him," he finished as he nodded his head towards Naruto._

_Minato nodded solemnly as he watched Sarutobi prepare to leave. "You best get him ready," he said as he left._

_Minato stared after him for a moment, in awe, and then moved quickly to do what was needed._

_End of Flashback_

"And that's how it happened, Naruto," Minato said, as he finished the story. "The Shiki Fuujin is a contract that the user makes with the death god, Shinigami. It requires the user to give up his own life, and in exchange, receives the power to take the soul of the one he wishes with him to the underworld. The Sandaime just used it bit differently so that that Yang chakra of Kyuubi would be sealed in you."

Naruto was silent for a minute. This was so overwhelming! "But that makes me…a…monster doesn't it?" he finally asked, sadly, tears forming in his eyes.

Minato put his arms around Naruto and pulled him into a tight embrace. "Hush. That is not true, and I won't have you talking that way. You are not the Kyuubi; do you understand me? Having it inside you is different than being the monster itself. In a sense, you saved the village, and viewed as a hero, as was the Sandaime," Minato told Naruto.

Naruto remained quiet for a long time, letting his father just hold him. This was so much to take in! It was so hard to believe. "Tousan?" he finally asked into his father's chest. "Will it always be there, inside me?"

"Yes, Naruto, I'm afraid so. But I can teach you how to use its powers correctly. And that gets us back to why you are having trouble with this technique," Minato answered. "You have trouble controlling your chakra because of Kyuubi. Kyuubi has its own chakra, so you have two kinds of chakra. The seal was set up in such a way so that the chakra of the kyuubi can leak out from the four point seal and be converted into your own. Because your body is too small of a container to accept the chakra of Kyuubi, your body tries to avoid stress by rejecting the Kyuubi's chakra. But I can teach you how to use it safely," Minato explained.

"So, what does all this mean?" Naruto asked.

"It means that you have tremendous power. You have incredible stamina. Once you learn how to control your chakra, you'll be able to do amazing things with it. Kyuubi also heals your wounds for you, which is why you always seem to heal so quickly. But you have to be careful. Using too much of Kyuubi's power could do damage to your body," Minato explained.

"Can…can the seal…ever be…broken?" Naruto asked, hesitantly.

Minato sighed. This was hard to answer also. But he felt he had to be honest with his son. "It does become weaker as years go by. However, Jiraiya-sensei and I have come up with a way to strengthen the seal, if the need ever arose. Don't worry though. I have always and will always keep tabs on the situation," Minato told him.

Naruto just nodded his head again. It was all so weird and new to him.

"As you continue to train, vigorously, you'll gain more control over your chakra. And I will help you learn how to use and control Kyuubi's chakra. I think you'll find that will make a big difference in your techniques, okay?" Minato asked.

"Okay, Tousan. I trust you," Naruto said at last. "I…I understand why you waited to tell me. I'm glad that you're my tousan and can help me through this."

"Of course, Naruto. I know that what the Sandaime did was the right choice, and for me to be here with you," Minato told him seriously, giving him another hug, which Naruto returned.

"Now, I have a great technique that I think would be perfect for you to learn, that's even better than the clone replication jutsu," Minato said with a grin.

Naruto's eyes widened in surprise and curiosity. "Really, what is it?" he asked.

Minato's grin widened. "It's a high class, jounin level technique, that's found in the Scroll of Sealing. It was sealed by the First Hokage himself and contains many forbidden jutsus.

"Yeah?" Naruto asked, hanging on the edge of his seat.

"It's called the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu," Minato told him. Once you learn it, you will be able to create a real body, and lots of them," he explained.

Naruto grinned widely in response. "Show me."

**TBC**

**AN: I hope I did this accurately. I did a lot of research on the chakra thing, so I did my best. And it may seem that Naruto took it very well when he learned about Kyuubi, but he trusts his dad, since they have such a close relationship and I think he would understand being told that way, anyway, that's my take on it. Also, I really thought that the Sandaime would be perfect to save the village since he knew the forbidden technique also, and it gave me a believable explanation for Minato to be alive. There will be one more timeskip for the next chapter, and then the last chapter will be the epilogue and conclusion for this story. Now, please hit that review button and let me know what you think!**


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

**AN: Thanks once again for all the kind reviews, I have tried to reply to them all, everyone has been such a wonderful support to me through my first long fic! I have borrowed some from the anime in this chapter, with some twists, so please don't sue me, as I don't own Naruto! A thanks goes out to MrsHellman and Hotari-chan for beta-ing! Enjoy!**

A year and a half passed, making Naruto eleven and half. He was younger than his peers due to the fact that his birthday falls in October; he wasn't quite seven yet when he started at the academy. Naruto was in his last year at the academy; the first term was over, and the second term was going to begin soon. For now, everyone had some time off before starting second term. At the end of the year, everyone had to take and pass the genin exam to graduate from the academy.

Naruto had improved his skills tremendously over the last year in a half. Minato had been teaching Naruto how to use Kyuubi's chakra, which helped Naruto to improve all his techniques 100. He learned very quickly how do the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu, after Minato had shown it to him. Even though he was very suited for it, Minato was still surprised how fast Naruto had learned the jutsu. Minato had also explained the benefits of using the Kage Bunshin no Justsu, namely, being able to learn whatever the clone learns, and with Naruto's chakra and stamina levels, he could produce lots of clones and accelerate his learning rate. Naruto thought that was really cool.

Naruto was currently training with his best friend, Uchiha Sasuke. They trained constantly together, and continued to motivate each other to keep getting stronger, by trying to out do the other, but in a fun, friendly, competitive way.

Sasuke had been amazed the first time he saw Naruto execute the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu. Naruto showed it to him one day for the first time, shortly after learning it.

**Flashback**

_After school, the boys were training together, when Naruto said, "Ne, Sasuke?"_

_"What is it?" Sasuke asked._

_Naruto had a smirk on his face. "Want to see a really cool jutsu, my tousan taught me?"_

_"Yeah!" Sasuke said, getting excited._

_"Yosh. Here's goes," Naruto announced proudly, cracking his knuckles and then performing the cross signal with his fingers. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" he shouted, producing about fifty clones._

_"Wow! That's so cool!" Sasuke exclaimed looking around at all the clones. "How do you do that? I thought you had trouble with clone replication?" he asked Naruto._

_"I did, until Tousan told me I'd be perfectly suited for this jutsu. He taught me how to mold my chakra the right way._ _And these are real clones too, even better than the bunshin no jutsu," Naruto boasted, and released the jutsu so all the clones disappeared._

_"Man, I wish I could learn that one," Sasuke said, with envy in his voice. _

_"Yeah, but you can do Katon no Jutsu," Naruto pointed out, "And I can't do that."_

_"Yeah, I guess…" Sasuke agreed._

_"And besides, you'll have the Sharingan one day. Then I'll really be in trouble," Naruto laughed._

_Sasuke laughed too. "That's true. I just don't know when it will become activate. Tousan thinks it will be soon, though."_

_"I'm sure it will. Now let's spar!" Naruto shouted, tackling his friend, who was caught off guard temporarily._

_"Hey! I wasn't ready!" Sasuke protested, but quickly recovered._

**End of Flashback**

Both boys had just finished shuriken practice, both hitting their targets dead on. Minato came home for a much needed lunch break from the office. He found the boys training together in the back of the house.

"Oi, Naruto, Sasuke!" Minato called to them. Both boys looked up in surprise. "I came home for a lunch break. Who wants to go to Ichiraku's?"

Naruto didn't need a second invitation. He came running over to Minato very quickly.

"Sasuke can come too, right, Tousan?" Naruto asked eagerly.

"Certainly," Minato answered with a grin.

Sasuke came strolling over. "Tch, you're such a ramen freak, Naruto," he said, teasingly. "I bet you'd do anything for ramen."

Naruto thought about it for a moment. "Pretty much," he shrugged.

Sasuke shook his head and addressed Minato. "Thank you for inviting me, Hokage-sama," he said.

Minato waved it off. "Don't mention it. I love ramen as much as Naruto does, that's where he gets it from, you know," he told him with a wink.

Sasuke just blinked in response.

"Enough talking, let's go!" Naruto yelled impatiently.

"Alright, calm down, Naruto, we're going," Minato said, as they began to walk off towards Ichiraku's.

As they were walking together, Sasuke spotted Sakura coming towards them. She was still a ways off, and didn't see them yet.

"Oh no! Here comes that annoying girl again!" Sasuke moaned as he tried to hide behind Naruto.

Naruto looked inquisitively at his friend. "You mean, Sakura-san?" he asked.

"Yes! Haven't you noticed how she always hangs around us?" Sasuke replied.

"Hmmm…no…not really," Naruto answered.

Sasuke rolled his eyes. Honestly, for the son of the hokage, Naruto wasn't always the sharpest.

Fortunately, Sakura turned down another street and didn't see them.

Minato smiled as he heard their conversation. His son was truly naïve if he didn't know why that girl was always hanging around. It was very obvious. Maybe he would need to have 'the talk' with Naruto…soon.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

School break ended bringing everyone back to the academy once more. Iruka decided give the class a pop quiz on the henge, much to everyone annoyance.

"Okay, everyone line up and when I call your name, henge into me, got it?" Iruka addressed the class.

"Man, this sucks," Shikamaru complained, as he stood next to Naruto.

"So what? You can do it," Naruto replied.

"That's not the point. I don't want to do it," Shikamaru answered. Naruto rolled his eyes.

"Haruno Sakura," Iruka called.

"Yosh," Sakura said as she came forward. _I hope Naruto-kun and Sasuke-kun are watching,_ she thought. "Henge!" she shouted as she transformed into the perfect copy of Iruka.

"Good," Iruka said, as he marked something off on his notebook.

_Yes! I did it! _"Did you see that, Naruto-kun? Sasuke-kun?" Sakura called to them. Sasuke didn't answer, but Naruto gave her thumbs up. He still wasn't sure what exactly was up with this girl, but she was starting to grow on him a little. She seemed so nice, and she was pretty and very smart, from what he had heard about her.

"Uchiha Sasuke," Iruka called, shaking Naruto from his thoughts.

"Ne, Sasuke," Naruto whispered before Sasuke went up. "Make sure you watch me, when it's my turn. I'm going to liven things up!"

Sasuke glanced at him curiously and then executed his henge into the perfect copy of Iruka.

"Good," Iruka said, marking it down. "Uh, next is Namikaze Naruto."

Naruto walked up to the front, with a big grin on his face. He had just learned this one, and hadn't shown it to anyone yet, especially not his father. Naruto was still debating whether or not to show to him. He had been dying to try it on an adult, and Iruka-sensei seemed like the perfect test subject. Besides, how boring was it to henge into Iruka-sensei when he could do something like this?

Hyuuga Hinata was standing near the end of the line. She was pressing her fingers together in a nervous gesture and had blush across her cheeks when she saw Naruto come forward. _Do your best, Naruto-kun,_ she thought.

"Henge!" Naruto shouted, as he transformed not into Iruka, but a naked, sexy-looking woman. She winked and blew a kiss at Iruka, who fell over with a nosebleed.

Everyone laughed. Sasuke smiled. Naruto was such a clown.

Naruto transformed back into himself, and was laughing hysterically as he pointed at Iruka. "I call that my seduction technique."

Iruka was not amused. "Naruto! How can you invent such a technique? It's disgraceful! Don't pull a stunt like that again, or I'll have to inform _your father!_" he said sternly.

Naruto gulped. "Fine, have it your way," he said grudgingly. He didn't want his father to find out about this via Iruka telling him what Naruto had done in class, so he did the henge correctly this time. "No sense of humor," he added under his breath.

"That's better," Iruka said, marking it down.

When class was over, Naruto walked out with Sasuke.

"I can't believe you did that, Naruto," Sasuke said as they walked. "If your tousan finds out…"

"Aw, don't worry, he won't. Come on, admit it, you thought it was funny," Naruto pressed.

"Maybe…" Sasuke admitted. "When did you pick that up?"

"Just recently. I was looking at a couple of magazines and the idea came to me. I've been dying to try it out on some adult. Since it worked so well on Iruka-sensei, I bet even tousan would fall victim to it..." Naruto paused. "Then, he'd lecture me to death!" he shuddered at the thought. "But it might be worth it just to see his face!" he grinned.

Sasuke merely shook his head at his friend's antics.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Time passed by quickly for the second term, and the final exam for the soon to be genin was only a week away now.

Naruto felt like he was ready for the exam, but he was also feeling a little nervous about it. No one knew what would be asked of him or her for the exam. For Naruto, passing meant one step closer to his dream of being the hokage.

One evening after they had finished eating dinner, Naruto talked to Minato about the exam.

"Tousan?" he began.

"Yes, Naruto?" Minato could tell that Naruto was nervous about something.

"Well, you know the genin exam is next week and well…I…was just…" Naruto trailed off unsure of how to voice his concerns without appearing weak.

"You're feeling nervous about the exam?" Minato supplied for him.

Naruto looked away and gave a slight nod.

"It's nothing to be ashamed about, Naruto. It's only natural that you'd be feeling nervous," Minato reassured him. "I bet everyone in your class feels the same way."

"Yeah, I guess. It's just that…what if…I…don't pass?" Naruto finally got out.

Minato understood how important this was to Naruto, given all he had been through up until this point. They had trained hard together, and he had seen how much Naruto had grown and learned since he first started at the academy. It was amazing really.

"I think you'll do just fine, Naruto. You've worked hard; you know all jutsus and techniques that you're supposed to know, plus the extra one that I taught you. That one alone gives you a leg up," Minato told him.

Naruto nodded but still seemed unsure. Minato got up and walked over to him, sitting next to him. He put his hand under his chin, making Naruto look at him.

"Listen, son, no matter what, I have and will always be proud of you, but I don't believe you'll have any problems passing, alright?" Minato told him.

Naruto suddenly hugged his father tight. "Arigatou, tousan," he said into his father's chest. Minato hugged him back. "I don't know what I'd do without you. I…I…never would have made it this far," he said in a quiet voice.

"Well, you're welcome," Minato answered, rubbing the top of his son's head, affectionately. "You've worked hard, and I'm glad I could be for you."

"Me too," Naruto said, earnestly. Then the thought came to him to try out his new technique on his father. He really wanted to see his reaction. "Ne, tousan?"

"Hmm?" Minato asked, knowing his son was up to something with that tone.

"Speaking of jutsus, I just learned a new one that I want to show you," Naruto said, with a mischievous grin.

"Okay…" Minato began, wondering what kind of jutsu Naruto wanted to show him.

"Yosh. Prepare yourself for this one," Naruto said, as he stood up and cracked his knuckles. "Henge!" he shouted, transforming once again into the sexy, naked woman. He blew at kiss at his father. "What do you think?" he asked in a sexy voice.

Minato's eyes nearly popped out of his head. He fell backwards in his chair, landing on the floor hard, with a nosebleed.

Naruto changed back to himself and sweat dropped. _Wow, it works on him too! Amazing!_ _I just defeated the hokage! _He thought.

When Minato recovered, he was pretty upset. "Naruto! Where did you learn such a…a…"

"Awesome technique?" Naruto supplied.

"Not the word, I was looking for," Minato answered wryly, wiping his nose. He cleared his throat. "Listen to me very carefully, as I'm only going to say this once: DON'T EVER DO THAT IN FRONT OF ME AGAIN, UNDERSTAND?" he boomed loudly.

Naruto trembled. "S-sure, T-tousan…no problem," he stuttered. Man, his father sure could be scary at times. But it was worth it, just knowing that he could beat his legendary father at something!

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The day of the exam had finally come. The rest of that week, Naruto had trained his butt off in preparation for it. Sometimes with Sasuke, his father, or by himself. He felt as ready as he could ever be.

That morning he had woken up early. He was just too excited to sleep. He did some last minute training and then came in for breakfast. His father was already there.

"Morning, son," Minato greeted Naruto.

"Morning, Tousan. Well, today's the big day. If I pass today, I'll finally get my hitai-ate!" Naruto gushed, excitedly. "Then I'll finally be recognized as a real ninja!"

Minato smiled at his son. "I'm sure you'll do just fine. Remember, everything you've learned. You've worked hard, and I know you can do it. I'll be there after the exam to give the graduation speech. After that, we can celebrate any way you'd like," Minato told Naruto.

"Really? You mean it?" Naruto asked.

"Of course I do," Minato answered. He looked at the time. "Oops, gotta run, but I'll see you soon. Good luck, son, do your best!" he said ruffling Naruto's hair as he walked by.

Naruto wolfed down his breakfast and as he walked towards the door, he passed a mirror. He took a moment to look at himself. _If all goes well, today I will become a genin,_ he thought. Taking one last look at himself, he rushed out the door.

On his way, he met up with Sasuke. "Oi, Sasuke!" Naruto called to him.

Sasuke turned around at the sound of Naruto's voice. "Naruto," he called.

Naruto jogged up to him. "So, can you believe it's the last day for us at the academy?" he asked Sasuke.

"No, it's gone so fast. I can't believe we're taking the final exam. I wish we knew which technique they are going to test us on though," Sasuke answered.

"Yeah, but you'll have no problem, with your perfect scores," Naruto teased him.

Sasuke blushed. "You'll do fine too. You've trained your butt off, and your tousan's been helping a lot."

"Thanks. I'm as ready as I'll ever be. It sure will be cool to be genin, won't it?" Naruto gushed.

"Yeah, we'll finally be viewed as real ninjas, and we'll get to do real missions," Sasuke replied.

"It will be so awesome! And we get to be on a team, so I've heard. I wonder who our sensei will be, who will be on what team?" Naruto wondered.

"We'll find out until sometime after we graduate," Sasuke answered.

"Yeah, it's just so hard to wait. I…kind of hope…that…maybe…we'll…be on the same team," Naruto said hesitantly.

Sasuke looked quizzically at him.

"I'm mean…we've been through the academy together and everything…it would just be fun to be on the same team," Naruto finished.

"Yeah…it would…" Sasuke answered.

They continued on in silence the rest of the way. It was really hard for Naruto to say that to Sasuke, and be open about how he felt like that, but after all, Sasuke was like a brother to him, and it would be so cool to be on the same team.

They got to class and sat down, as Iruka addressed the class. "Okay, class, settle down. We will now start the final exam. When your name is called, come to the classroom next door. The subject will be…"

Everyone was hanging on tender hooks to know what the subject of the exam would be.

"…bunshin no jutsu (replication technique)."

Naruto breathed out a sigh of relief. _This is too good! I'll wow them with the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu and ace this exam! _He glanced at Sasuke and gave him a big grin. Sasuke smiled in return.

Naruto's turn finally came. Iruka and another instructor were present to grade him.

_Yosh, I'm going to knock their socks off with this one!_ He thought. "Kage bunshin no Jutsu!" he shouted as he produced a room full of clones.

Iruka was shocked to say the least. "Naruto…where...how…did you…learn that?" he asked.

"Tousan taught me. He said I was better suited for this than the bunshin jutsu," Naruto answered. "I pass right?" he asked.

_Hokage-sama sure knows what he's doing,_ Iruka thought, smiling. "Yes, Naruto you pass with flying colors. Come and get your hitai-ate."

"YES!" Naruto shouted, pumping his fist in the air. He ran up to the desk, and picked up one of the hitai-ate's. He held it carefully, as if it would break, and ran his fingers over it. Then, he put it on his forehead. Instantly, he felt different, he was a real ninja now. He did it!

"Congratulations, Naruto," Iruka told him.

"Arigatou, Iruka-sensei!" Naruto answered, and headed outside to where the graduation ceremony was.

As he came outside, he saw a big crowd of people: his classmates with their families. He spotted Sasuke with his parents and when he saw Naruto, he gave him a 'v' sign with his two fingers, which Naruto returned. Then, Naruto began searching for the one person he really wanted to see, his father.

When he finally caught sight of him, Naruto ran over to him, and nearly bowled him over with a hug. "I did it, Tousan! I graduated! Look, look at my hitai-ate! I'm a real ninja now!"

Minato somehow managed to keep his balance, and hugged his son back. "I knew you could do it," he grinned. "Congratulations! We'll celebrate anyway you want, right after this, okay?"

"Hai!" Naruto chirped.

Minato smiled again at his son. It was so hard to believe that his son was now a genin. He had come such a long way over these last four and half years. His son was growing up and would be doing missions with a team soon. Minato sighed wistfully. He missed the old days…he shook himself out of those thoughts. It was time to give the graduation speech.

"Ahem! If I could have your attention please!" Minato began, loudly, so people could hear him. When everyone was quiet, he continued. "Congratulations to you all, for becoming Genin. It will get harder from here, as a ninja, but my hope is for all of you to serve Konoha well, and continue along the path that has been set out for you."

Everyone clapped and started to disperse. Sasuke came over to Naruto and offered him his congratulations on graduating, and Naruto returned the compliment. Sasuke then told him he would catch up with him later, to do some celebrating together, which Naruto heartily agreed to.

Just then, Kakashi suddenly appeared next to Naruto and Minato. "Yo, Naruto!" he said in greeting. "Just wanted to offer my congratulations on graduating," he told him with his eye-smile.

"Arigatou, Kakashi-san," Naruto answered.

"Things will be getting pretty interesting from now on," Kakashi continued with a wink aimed at Minato, who nodded in response.

"What do you mean by that?" Naruto asked, curiously, looking between his father and Kakashi.

"Oh, you'll see…soon enough," Kakashi said, purposefully avoiding Naruto's question.

Naruto huffed and folded his arms. "Fine, keep your secrets."

"Ja ne!" Kakashi said, and then disappeared.

Naruto spoke to Minato. "Tousan, I know how I want to celebrate," he began. "All the ramen I can eat!"

Minato laughed. "Why doesn't that surprise me?" He studied his son again for a moment. He wasn't a little boy any more that needed protecting like so long ago. Minato would truly have to let go of him now that he was a genin. He had been able to gradually let go of Naruto over the last couple of years, but it was easy when Naruto was at the academy and didn't leave Konoha. Now, life would get harder for Naruto, going on missions…and possibly even getting into dangerous situations. But Naruto had come such a long way since he first started at the academy…he had learned so much…and now look at him…tears pricked at Minato's eyes.

Naruto saw that Minato's eyes were tearing up. "What's wrong, Tousan?"

Minato shook himself. "Ah, nothing," he laughed, putting his hand behind his head. "Just reminiscing. I'm just so proud of you, Naruto," he told him.

"Arigatou, Tousan. I owe it to you, really," Naruto answered.

"In part, but you did the hard work yourself, you've earned this," Minato said. "You have tremendous potential, and I know you're going to become an excellent ninja."

Naruto smiled and blushed. "Off to Ichiraku's!" he shouted, taking off in the direction of his favorite ramen stand.

Minato shook his head and smiled. This was the beginning of new adventure for them both.

**To be concluded...**

**AN: Sorry if this seemed a bit rushed, but I had a lot to cover in a short amount of time, since I'm wrapping up this story. There will be an epilogue to conclude this story. I'm glad everyone has enjoyed this story so far, and I have really enjoyed writing it. I hope this chapter was good, my muse is starting to leave me, so it was getting a bit hard to write. Review please!**


	10. Chapter 10

Epilogue

**AN: Well, this is it, people, the last chapter; it's hard to believe! I want to thank everyone who has stuck through this until the end! I want to especially thank MrsHellman and Hotari-chan for their help with this, and also my husband, who was a big help with chapter 6! I borrowed from the anime for this one, with my own twists to it, so I don't own Naruto, k? I also give credit to "Finding Nemo" for the ending to this story; I just had to put it in there! Enjoy**!

Naruto loved being a genin. He had been assigned to a team, which was called team 7, along with a sensei. Naruto had been surprised to learn who had been selected to be on his team with him: Sakura and Sasuke. He was delighted though, as was Sakura. Sasuke was glad to be on the same team as Naruto, but he was pretty indifferent to Sakura, much to her disappointment. Naruto had also been very surprised when he learned who their sensei was.

_Flashback_

_Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke were waiting in their classroom for their jounin sensei to show up. He was already late, all the other teams had left with their senseis and even Iruka-sensei had already gone home. Naruto was getting really impatient._

"_He's late!" Naruto said angrily, as he opened the door for the tenth time, checking the hallway for any sign of their sensei._

"_I'm sure he'll be here soon, Naruto-kun," Sakura told him, trying to make the blonde feel better. She was starting to get concerned herself though. _

"_Why is our sensei the only one late?" Naruto __asked__, irritability. 'Come to think of it, Kakashi-san was always late too…could it be? Nah!' Naruto thought._

"_You do have a good point there, Naruto," Sasuke pointed out. _

_Naruto climbed up on a chair and proceeded to put an eraser in the doorway, so it would hit the guy when he came in._

"_What are you doing, Naruto-kun?" Sakura asked him, curiously._

"_Serves him right for being late!" Naruto answered, laughing as he got down._

"_But, Naruto-kun, you could get in trouble for that," Sakura said, worriedly. Inside she thought, 'I love tricks like this!'_

"_Naruto, do you really think a jounin would fall for something like that?" Sasuke asked, seriously, with a frown on his face. Inside though, he agreed with Naruto. The instructor was really late._

"_You never know until you try," Naruto answered him, with a big grin. _

_Just then, the door slid open, and as the said jounin poked his head in, the eraser bonked him on the head._

_Naruto started laughing until he recognized who their sensei was. "K-Kakashi-san?" he stammered and pointed._

_Sasuke remembered him from a long time ago, when he and Naruto where doing their school project. He couldn't believe that this guy was a jounin, letting the eraser hit him like that._

"_Gomen-nasai, sensei," Sakura apologized; feeling slightly embarrassed, but at the same time, thought what Naruto did was cool. He had got their sensei good!_

"_Don't worry. I expect this kind of thing from Naruto," Kakashi said. Naruto gulped. "However, it's Kakashi-sensei from now on, Naruto. Don't think I'll be going easy on you, just because you're the Yondaime's son."_

_Naruto nodded nervously. Of all the senseis they had to get! And he would always be late!_

_End of Flashback_

In the end, Naruto had accepted it. He then understood what Kakashi had been referring to on the day of his graduation. No doubt his father had planned this.

After Kakashi had introduced himself officially, he had the three genin talk about themselves a bit, which Naruto thought was pointless. Kakashi knew him well, and he and Sasuke were best friends. The next thing the new team had to do was pass Kakashi's survival training. This had confused them since they had passed the final exam to become genin already, why did they have to take another test? Kakashi explained to them that only 9 out of 18 people would become genin, and this test was to weed out the weaklings, as this was very hard test. Naruto was particularly upset about it.

"What the heck? What was the academy for then? And the final exam?" Naruto yelled angrily.

"That? It just picks out those who are qualified to become genin," Kakashi replied, very matter-of-factly.

"NANI!?" Naruto protested, but Kakashi cut him off.

"Anyway, I'm going to determine whether you pass or fail tomorrow at the training grounds," Kakashi continued, as if Naruto hadn't spoken. "Bring your equipment and meet at 5 AM!"

Naruto started shaking. _I'm not going to get dropped by a thing like this! Why the heck didn't Tousan tell me about this? And why did he have to have Kakashi be our sensei?_ He thought angrily.

Sakura was having her own inner turmoil. _If I don't pass, I'll be separated from Naruto-kun, and Sasuke-kun forever! I can't let that happen!_

Sasuke's hands were clasped together before he heard this news; in response he clenched them tightly in a very determined way.

"Well, meeting's over. See you tomorrow morning! Oh, and don't eat any breakfast. You'll throw up if you do," Kakashi warned them.

All three genin were shocked by this news. Naruto was definitely going to have words with his father about this one!

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Naruto went straight to his father's office. "TOUSAN!" he bellowed as he slammed open the door to his father's office, causing Minato to jump and slide his brush across a document he was working on. His eye twitched in annoyance.

"Naruto! You just made me mess up a very important document I was working on," Minato told him, irritability.

Naruto ignored his father. "Why the heck didn't you tell me that Kakashi-san was going to be my sensei? He's going to put us through some grueling test tomorrow, and unless we pass it, we'll all fail and get sent back to the academy!" he yelled angrily.

"Woah, calm down, Naruto," Minato said. "You know that I couldn't tell you who your sensei was going to be. I assigned them to the teams as I thought best," Minato explained.

Naruto huffed and folded his arms. "The final exam was for nothing! It just picks out who's qualified to become genin. Kakashi-_sensei_ gets to decide who passes or fails now!"

Minato smiled. "Naruto. It will be easy for you to pass Kakashi's test, if you think about it," he told him.

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked, impatiently.

"You know that Kakashi was once my student, right? Remember how I told you that teamwork is the most important thing for a shinobi?" Minato asked him.

"Yeah, so?" Naruto asked, not getting the point.

"Kakashi believes the same way I do. Think about it," Minato encouraged Naruto.

Naruto looked blankly back at his father for moment. Then it dawned on him. He gave his father a big grin.

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When they arrived at the training grounds at 5 AM, there was no sign of Kakashi. He ended up arriving very late, much to everyone's annoyance.

Kakashi then presented them with their mission: to retrieve 2 bells from him. The one who doesn't get a bell, would be tied up, fail and be sent back to the academy. All three could fail, or just one of them. He further told them that they would have to come after him, as if they were going to kill him. It seemed impossible and very unfair. However, they were all determined to pass this. Naruto remembered what his father had told him earlier about teamwork and Kakashi being his father's student. Naruto shared this with Sakura and Sasuke.

"If we work together, we can do this. I'm sure that's what Kakashi-sensei wants us to do, and not just blindly follow his orders," Naruto explained.

Sakura and Sasuke looked skeptical, but agreed to do it. In the end, it had worked. They didn't manage to get a bell, but Kakashi saw them operate as a three-man team, so he passed them. He told them, "ninjas need to think beyond the normal." He went on to explain that ninjas who don't take care of their friends are worse than scum.

"The training ends here. You all pass. Tomorrow, we'll start doing missions!" Kakashi told them. They were thrilled.

"Naruto-kun, you were right!" Sakura gushed.

"That was pretty smart of you, Naruto. Guess your tousan's rubbing off on you finally," Sasuke teased.

"YES! We're all really ninjas now!" Naruto yelled with excitement, ignoring Sasuke's comment.

Since then, Team 7 started doing all kinds of D ranked missions. After doing this for a while, though Naruto got really tired of them, and wanted to do something more exciting and challenging. So one day, after returning a woman's lost cat, and hearing his father read off a list of the next D ranked missions, none of which Naruto liked at all, he spoke up.

"No way, Tousan!" Naruto interrupted, making a cross with his arms in a big 'x'. "I'm tired of doing these easy missions. I want to do something more exciting!" he finished in frustration.

Sasuke silently agreed with Naruto. Kakashi sighed and Sakura was speechless. Only Naruto could get away with speaking to the Hokage like that and only because he was his father.

Minato sighed. He knew this was bound to happen sooner or later. "Naruto, you are still a novice ninja. You have to do easy missions to gain experience," Minato told him.

"But, Tousan! All we've been doing lately are these dumb missions!" Naruto answered back.

"Naruto! Have you forgotten how missions are assigned, or do I need to remind you again?" Minato asked sternly.

"Yeah, yeah, I know all of that Tousan, I don't need a lecture. I'm not a kid anymore! I want to do something that will challenge my skills!" Naruto huffed as he folded his arms.

Kakashi put his hand behind his head and rubbed it. Naruto could be so dramatic at times.

Minato smiled at his son's antics. "Very well, I understand, Naruto. Since you are so insistent, I will allow you to take on a C ranked mission." Naruto looked up at this. "It involves escorting a certain person," Minato explained.

"Now that's more like it!" Naruto gushed, excitedly. "Who is it? A feudal lord? A princess?"

"Woah, take it easy, Naruto," Minato told him. "I'll introduce him now. You can come in now," Minato called.

Everyone turned to see who it was. The door slid open and in came an old man, carrying a bottle of sake in his hand. The first words out of his mouth were, "What's this? Some kind of joke? They're all kids!" he exclaimed indignantly, as he took a drink from his sake.

"Why you! Who do you think-" Naruto was cut off when he heard, "I will be with them," Kakashi spoke up. "And they are more than capable of handling this mission," he added.

Naruto felt better that Kakashi had vouched for them.

"I agree with Kakashi. Don't underestimate them, just because they are young," Minato put in, making Naruto swell with pride at his father's words. The old man snorted but said nothing more. "Your mission is to escort Tazuna-san back to his country. He is a bridge builder and you are to protect him with your life as he completes the bridge. You will set out tomorrow morning, early," he told them. "Dismissed."

Naruto didn't really like this guy's attitude, but at least they were going to be doing something that was better than a D ranked mission.

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That next morning, it was time for Naruto to get up, and get ready to leave for his mission, but he was still asleep. So Minato came into Naruto's room to wake him up, so he wouldn't be late.

"Time to get up, Naru-chan!" Minato said loudly, shaking a surprised Naruto awake. "Come on, get up, get up!"

They ate breakfast together and after giving Naruto some last minute instructions, Naruto was ready to go.

"May I see you off at the gate?" Minato asked Naruto.

"Um, I guess so, Tousan," Naruto agreed, but a bit curious as to why his father wanted to see him off. "You're not going to embarrass me are you?" he asked, suspiciously.

"No! Of course not," Minato said quickly, putting his hand behind his head. "It's just that…well…this is your first mission outside the village…and…I…just want to…see you off, that's all. You know, be a supportive father," he answered and laughed nervously.

Naruto raised a brow at this, but agreed to it. Minato sighed in relief. The truth was that Minato was feeling a little nervous about Naruto going on his first mission away from the village. Kakashi would be there, but Minato couldn't help but feel a little of that overprotective side of him kicking in again.

They headed towards Konoha's gate, where team 7 was supposed to meet. Naruto was very excited, and Minato couldn't also help but feel tremendous pride for his son.

"Hey, Naruto! I'll race you to the gate!" Minato said, smiling.

"You're on, but no high-speed jutsu!" Naruto answered, grinning back at him. "And if I win, you have to treat our team to ramen when we get back!"

"Deal!" Minato answered.

They took off running, with Minato going a little faster than Naruto.

"I'm going to win," Minato called as they neared the gate.

"No, you're not!" Naruto said as he passed Minato suddenly. "I did it!" Naruto yelled as he reached the gate first. "Yes! You have to treat us all to ramen!"

"Aw, no fair, my own son beats me!" Minato said, in a fake pouting voice, making Naruto laugh.

Sakura and Sasuke were already there, waiting for Kakashi, who was late, as usual. Tazuna was there also. Minato watched as Naruto talked excitedly to his teammates. _I can't believe this day has finally come, where my son would be leaving the village to do his own missions, _Minato thought wistfully, thinking back on how far he and Naruto had come to get to this point. _Get a grip, Minato, you have to let him go. Don't do anything stupid._

Finally, Kakashi showed up with everyone yelling, "YOU'RE LATE!"

As they prepared to leave, Minato walked over to Kakashi and whispered, "Look after him, won't you?" Kakashi nodded in understanding.

As the team began to walk away, Minato watched his son with mixed emotions. On the one hand, he was so proud of his son. On the other hand, he felt like a nervous wreck, sending his son out on his first away from home mission.

Naruto turned around and saw his father standing there, watching him. He glanced back at his team and then at his father.

"Kakashi-sensei…wait! I forgot something!" Naruto said suddenly, running towards his father.

Minato looked surprised as he saw Naruto running towards him. He threw his arms around his father and said quietly, "Love you, Tousan."

Minato hugged him back. "I love you too, Naruto."

Everyone watched the exchanged with bemused expressions on their faces, even Tazuna.

They stayed like that for a minute or so before Naruto said, "Um…Tousan? You can let go now, everyone's waiting for me."

"Oh! Sorry!" Minato said quickly, releasing him. He watched Naruto run back to his team.

"Bye, tousan! See you when we get back!" Naruto called back as he waved to Minato.

Minato waved back, and watched him until he was no longer visible. "Bye, Naruto," he said quietly. "Do your best."

**END**

**AN: Wow, I can't believe this story is over! I sure had fun writing it! There may be a sequel, but I can't promise you. It all depends on if the inspiration hits me or not, and time, and all those kinds of things. Thanks to all my reviewers, you were all wonderful and encouraging! Please review this last time and let me know what you think! Thank you!**


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